The Velvet Lake
by Akari Rose
Summary: My take on the Persona 3 Portable story. Not sure where it's going, but I guess we'll see. My first fanfiction, so please be gentle! Rated T to be safe! Mainly Akihiko/Theo x FMC, I haven't quite decided.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3 Portable. It belongs to Atlus (unfortunately), apart from my copy of the game...and perhaps I'll steel Akihiko or Theo too...mwahaha.**

I realise my grammar and sentence structure may not be perfect. I merely write this for my own enjoyment (and not in the way you might think). It helps me get away from everyday life too.

*deep breath* So anyway, here goes!

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter One**

Warm sunshine filled the sky and no clouds were in sight. Cherry blossom trees lined the street passing Gekkoukan High School; the beginning of April always brought out the best in them, year after year. A young and slender girl walked along the silent pathway, smiling to herself. She always did love spring. A gentle breezed rippled through her long, glossy honey-coloured hair and silky, knee-length canary yellow dress yet it wasn't cold. Instead, it felt nice and complimented the warmth of the sun's rays. When the girl realised she was looking down at her feet, she stopped in her tracks and took a look around her, gazing in awe at the beautiful sight of the blossom trees. After a brief moment of content peacefulness, she held up the professional-looking camera that was hanging from her neck. Once she had adjusted a few settings, she began to take some photos of the trees.

Meanwhile at the school gates, a young boy with short silvery hair was making his exit from Gekkoukan. He stopped at the gates and took a deep sigh as he leaned on a pillar, holding his coat over his shoulder.

"It's just a matter of time before something else goes wrong..." the boy muttered to himself. "Huh?"

A sudden flash in the distance had startled him, followed by a few clicks that were the unmistakable noises of a camera. The boy's face turned even more sullen. The last thing he wanted was fan girls or the photography club taking his picture whilst he was in this mood.

"Where are you?" he muttered, his chocolate eyes darting around for the culprit. "Show yourself..."

Finally he laid his eyes upon the girl taking photos. She was still capturing the blossoms with a concentrated look on her pale-skinned face, completely unaware she was now being watched. The boy relaxed, contentedly studying her in relief that she didn't appear to be a crazed fan girl. Although he'd only just begun to observe, she seemed satisfied with the couple of photos she'd just taken. She held her camera carefully as she bent down and took a flower that was still attached to a fallen branch to take home. She started to walk slowly towards the school with her thoughts far away in a daydream, examining the branch in her hand and as she did so the boy's eyes widened and he made a move too; he didn't want to get caught staring at her.

The girl looked lost in her thoughts as she walked, but the sound of sudden hasty footsteps heading towards her in the otherwise silent street made her look up curiously to meet the eyes of the silver-haired young boy. He gave her a friendly smile, which she timidly returned as they were about to pass but with the swiftness of his pace and lack of space on the pavement they unexpectedly collided. As she hit into him she let out a squeal of surprise; the boy grabbed a hold of her and they spun around, falling to the ground with a hard bump which resulted in him lying awkwardly on top of her.

"I-I'm so sorry, are you all right?" he asked in serious concern, scanning her facial features. She still had her eyes shut tight and made small squeaks in pain, but emitted a little sound of acknowledgement in between.

"Um...h-how about you, s-senpai?" she queried, squinting a little.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," he assured her; after all, he was the one on top.

When he finally came to realise this, he made an embarrassed 'ngh' and got to his feet, reaching his hands out for her to grab. She took them gently.

"Are you holding tight?" he queried; although she was holding his hands as tight as possible, it felt like an effortless grasp.

"Y-Yes," she said uncertainly, avoiding looking at him directly. He was surprised at the weakness of her grip; regardless, he quickly pulled her up. "Thank you..."

"You're welcome," he responded kindly before clearing his throat. "I guess I should get going now."

"Oh, of course! M-Me too."

"Well then...goodbye."

"Goodbye, senpai."

The boy spotted a few fallen blossoms scattered on the ground and picked one up. The girl hadn't walked too far away so he quickly caught up with her. "Excuse me, I believe you dropped this."

The girl turned around in surprise. "Huh...? Oh! Um..."

She almost fell over from twirling around so fast, but he swiftly caught her in his strong embrace.

"You should be more careful," he said. Although his words were firm, there was kindness behind his stern tone. The girl didn't know what to say and avoided his eyes at all costs. "Do you need me to walk you home safely?"

He still hadn't let her go. She blushed at his words and wondered how long it would take for him to let go of his own free will, since she didn't have the confidence to do it herself.

"There's no need to be so embarrassed," he said, steadying her and finally letting go. "Can I ask why you are?"

The girl swallowed nervously after hearing his question and hesitated. "I-I'm not really that good when it comes to talking to boys...heh..."

"Oh, I see. Well I never thought I was that good with girls, but here I am, talking with you."

The girl smiled at him, making eye contact for only a couple of seconds before shying away to look at the ground.

"I almost forgot. You had this before I knocked into you, right? I thought you might have wanted it."

"Oh, the blossom-" she started, but cut off when he stepped closer and brushed her hair on one side to place a blossom flower behind her ear. "T-Thank you, senpai."

"You know, there's no need for that. Just call me Akihiko."

"O-Okay. It's nice to meet you, Akihiko. I'm Akari."

"Akari...nice to meet you too. We should get going before it gets dark. You don't want to be walking around on your own at night, it's dangerous for a petite girl like you. You know...that offer still stands, by the way."

The word 'petite' echoed in Akari's head. "Huh...?"

"I wasn't kidding when I offered to walk you home," he clarified.

"O-Oh...um...I..."

"That's okay if you don't want me to. I'll see you around-"

"I-It's not that," she rushed. "I just didn't know how to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"I'm new around here; I'm transferring to the Iwatodai dorm at Gekkoukan High School, which I can't find-"

"Wait, you're the transfer student? I live in the Iwatodai dorm...so I guess I'm your new housemate."

"R-Really?" Akari blushed. "Oh..."

"What? Are you disappointed?" he chuckled jokingly.

"No! I just...didn't expect..."

"Expect what?"

"N-Never mind..."

Akihiko was too curious. "No, please tell me?"

Akari's ocean-toned eyes nervously met his. "It's nothing. I was just...my mind wanders a lot. I was probably somewhere else as you said that and when I heard you say I'm going to be living with someone like you...reality hit me and I got embarrassed, which actually happens quite a lot."

He smiled at her words. "What did you mean by 'someone like me'?"

"Um...you know...touchy-feely and...nice."

"T-Touchy-feely?" Akihiko blushed, realising she meant the long embrace.

"L-Let's not talk about it and change the subject?" Akari suggested, almost in a whisper.

"All right. So where were you headed?" he questioned, obeying her request immediately as he felt a little tense too.

"Um...I was going to Gekkoukan High School to take a photo for this project I'm working on, but we bumped into each other and I...got sidetracked."

"Oh, I see, I'm so sorry."

"No, don't be!"

"Well I am, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"…There's another reason that I was going to the school."

"Oh, what's that?"

"I wanted to have a look around before school starts to get a feel of the place so I hopefully don't get lost on my first day."

"Then how do you feel about a tour of the school? It can make up for me sidetracking you and you can get some photos for your project, too."

"Really? Are you sure?"

Akihiko nodded and made a 'un' noise in affirmation. "There's one condition, though."

"Mmm?" Akari was curious.

"You have to let me walk you to the dorm."

"Oh, there'll be no need; we'll be done before dark, right?"

"That depends on what you want to see."

Thoughts ran through Akari's head. She mentally scolded her mind for that. When she realised Akihiko was watching her expression, she blushed furiously, realising that just made the situation worse and hoped he didn't catch on.

"Are you all right? Your face is all red. Are you burning up?"

"Y-Yes..."

His eyes widened. "Do you have any other symptoms? Maybe it's best to head back to the dorm now so you can rest. I don't want you to-"

"No, no...I'm not sick."

"You're...not? Oh...huh..." Akihiko was confused.

"Don't worry about it. Let's go, otherwise we'll be out during the midnight hour."

"What!" Akihiko stared at her directly as she made eye contact with him after his sudden exclamation. "The midnight hour? You mean…the Dark Hour?"

When she realised they were making eye contact, her shyness took over and she stared at his waistcoat instead. "Well...yeah, if you want to call it that."

"Oh...no, I'll make sure we're back before then. It's not safe. C'mon, let's get going."

Akihiko made a hand gesture for her to go first. He followed her closely as they walked up the gravelled path, which was lined either side with a few pink cherry blossom trees; beyond the trees were luscious, well-kept lawns. Akihiko trotted up the steps before her and she watched in curiosity, stumbling on the top step. Before she could look away in embarrassment, she noticed he was kindly holding the door open for her like a gentleman. She quickly headed through it, saying thank you to him and waited, staring down at the shiny floor. Two feet soon appeared next to hers and she recognised them as Akihiko's.

"Are you all right, Akari?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"Everything...making you-"

"Look, you're not making me do anything. I offered to show you around, didn't I?"

"That is true, but-"

"I'm the reason we bumped into each other and I held you up. I offered to show you around, you agreed and so that's what we're going to do. I don't go back on my word."

Akari didn't know what to say back to that. It was all true, but she couldn't help feeling bad anyway. She realised it didn't matter how she felt though, because he had proved to her that he was at fault; it was accidental, but there was no way she was going to get out of his way of making it up to her.

"So, this is the entrance hall. As you can see, this is where everyone's lockers are," he began and started to walk up a row they were in front of. He didn't hear footsteps following him so he stopped in his tracks, looking back over his shoulder. "Akari."

"Sorry, senpai!" she said quickly, catching up with him halfway up the row but after taking one step in front of him a hand held her shoulder firmly.

"I appreciate if you don't think I'm a very good tour guide, but this is my first time showing someone around a place-"

"Senpai, that's not it."

"What did I say about calling me your senpai? Or did you forget my name?"

"I didn't forget your name," she told him quietly. "You're Akihiko Sanada?"

"Yes-" he started, hoping this wasn't going where he thought.

"Then, something's hanging from your locker," she informed him, pointing to it.

He looked over and noticed black, rope-like string stuck in the door. "Oh...but I wasn't even in a rush today."

Akihiko walked over to it and grabbed a key from his pocket. Akari watched him unlock it and pull out a bulging drawstring bag. He drew the bag tight and tied it, carefully putting it back inside his locker on top of a few books. As he closed the door a heart-shaped post-it note fell to the floor and landed by Akari's feet. She bent down to pick it up and as she did so she wondered whether or not she should be picking it up for him in case it was a note from his girlfriend, but her body was a step ahead of her mind; she'd already picked it up and was subconsciously reading it.

_Dear Akihiko-senpai,_

_ Roses are red and violets are blue, but nothing is more passionate than my love for you._

_Yours forever, Minako_

"Um..." Akari looked up to see Akihiko staring down at her. This time she kept eye contact and stood up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to read it-"

Akari gave him the note. This time, Akihiko broke the eye contact to read it. "It's okay, it's only fan mail. Don't get me wrong, though. I just get this a lot so I'm used to it."

"Fan mail? Are you...famous?" she wondered, making Akihiko laugh. Akari smiled. "Did I say something funny?"

"I'm captain of the boxing club here at Gekkoukan. Girls are always staring at me, giving me gifts and follow me around. I don't know why. The other guys in the club are jealous, too." Akihiko sighed. "I'm hardly famous."

"You obviously are to the girls of Gekkoukan."

"But...why?"

"Although I haven't seen you fight, I know you're strong."

Akihiko chuckled. "Oh, really? How can you tell?"

Akari figured it out when he embraced her to stop her falling and when he fell on top of her, but she didn't want to bring either subject up again. "You...look it."

"I do?"

"Yeah, um...you look like...you have a lot of muscle."

"You can tell that I have a lot of muscle even though I have my shirt on?"

Akari blushed furiously at the idea of him shirtless. "U-Um…well…"

"These shirts aren't that see-through, are they?" Akihiko felt self-conscious and looked down at his arms.

"Don't worry, senpai. It doesn't matter if they are, you're a guy."

"Hey, I'm Akihiko, remember? It's nice to hear you use my name instead of senpai all the time."

"I'm sorry, Akihiko!"

"I'll let you call me Akihiko-senpai if you really want."

"Um, okay then."

Akihiko stared at her, smiling amiably. "That was a joke, but I don't mind. Anyway, let's continue with the tour, we want to get back before dark. You first, this time."

"Me? But I don't know where to go."

"Just pick either left or right and I'll guide you the rest of the way."

"Okay...um...right."

"After you, then."

Akari started to walk to the end locker, turning to the right. She walked through the smooth, white pillared archway through to a corridor, coming to a sudden stop. Akihiko stumbled into her from behind.

"S-Sorry, Akari."

"That's okay. It was my fault for stopping so suddenly."

"Not at all...it's like fate wants us to keep bumping into each other," he chuckled.

Akari forced a giggle. "I-Is that so..."

Akihiko stepped next to her and tilted his head in her direction. "It seems that way, doesn't it?"

"Heh, just a little," she agreed, trying to make an effort to relax too but failed miserably and did the complete opposite.

"Akari," he started, sounding concerned. She looked into his eyes when he said her name. He wore a serious expression. "You shouldn't be so nervous. I know it's hard, believe me...I'm nervous too."

"Senpai...I-I mean…um, Akihiko..."

"Don't worry. I'm sure we're both trying our best. Besides, we're going to be living together so we'll have to get used to being around each other sooner or later."

"But I-"

"Akari, you worry far too much. C'mon, there's a lot to see. I'm so glad there's no one about today." Akari silently agreed and looked around. Akihiko started to walk down the corridor. "To your left are the home economics and science classrooms and the laboratory. To your right are the classrooms for music and art."

Akari slowly followed him, looking at the notice boards for each classroom as she passed them. She noticed a physics section of the science board and stopped to take in more detail. There was a poster showing a long equation with an article and complicated diagram to accompany it.

"That's definitely a senior's work," she quietly muttered in awe.

"What's caught your eye?" Akihiko wondered, appearing next to her and taking a look at the poster. He groaned when he saw it and sighed.

Akari looked at him. "Is something wrong?"

"That's my poster. I didn't really want it to be put on the board." He started walking towards the end of the corridor. "This way, I'll show you the sport halls."

Akari decided not to ask why he didn't want his poster on the board and followed him obediently around the corner. To her surprise, he wasn't there. There were some stairs to her right and some doors leading outside right in front of her, so she took a guess and went through the doors. The sun was shining brightly just as it was before they entered the school. It reflected on the shiny leaves of a small persimmon tree; but the stone path that led to the sport halls was empty. There was no sign of Akihiko.

"Akihiko?" she wondered aloud, slowly turning around in a circle to scan the area.

"Akari!"

Akari jumped at the voice calling her name. "Senpai?"

"I thought I'd lost you. Thank goodness you only went this far." Akihiko walked on ahead. "Let's go, it's almost five o'clock."

"Really! But I-"

"Time flies when you're having fun, right?" Akihiko smiled happily at her and walked through the sliding door to the sport halls. "I expect you'll be joining one of these clubs."

Akari walked through the door too. "Um...I'm not so good with sports..."

"That's why you train."

"But I'm not fit enough to-"

"We could train together."

"There isn't a girls boxing club, so we'd be doing different things-"

"Not for the basics. Besides, you said you're not fit. I could help you."

Akari giggled. "Thank you, Akihiko. You're so kind."

Akihiko blushed. "N-Not at all, it would be my pleasure. I don't want you to miss out on joining a sports club just because you don't think you're fit enough and when I can help you with training."

She nervously scuffed a shoe. "I heard there's a tennis club."

"Yeah, that's the entrance to the field where practice is held. Do you like tennis?"

"Um, actually yes, I do. But like I said, I'm not fit-"

"It doesn't matter, I'll help you. You've got no excuses, Akari." Akihiko smirked triumphantly. "It's settled. We can start training together tomorrow, if you like."

"Tomorrow?" Akari repeated in surprise.

"Oh, are you busy?"

"No...it's just- um, yes, I mean yes-"

"Don't try and get out of it. Have faith in yourself. You've got me to help you and the sooner we start the better."

She nodded. "All right...but where will we train?"

"Well...the clubs don't start until the twenty-fourth, so we can probably use the gym. That also gives us just under three weeks." Akihiko crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "More importantly, what are you going to wear?"

"Um..." Akari hadn't thought of that. "M-My gym clothes...?"

They blushed together. "I guess that'll do."

"What about you?"

"Oh, I usually just wear shorts for boxing, so..."

Together they blushed even more. "Maybe I should go shopping for some other clothes to train in..."

"Good idea. I know a great sports shop that's on the way back to the dorm. We could stop by."

"S-Sounds good."

On their way back through the school, Akihiko pointed out the directions to the Faculty Office, library, nurse's office and other classrooms, but the rest of the journey to the sports shop was silent. Neither Akihiko nor Akari said anything; Akihiko felt a little uncomfortable about having to see Akari in her gym clothes and Akari likewise towards him, except stronger.

"Oh, this is it," Akihiko announced suddenly, making Akari jump. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Akari smiled timidly. She nodded and quickly walked into the shop. Akihiko chuckled quietly to himself, following her inside where it smelled strongly of new tennis balls. The shock of the scent made Akari suddenly cough and struggle to breathe.

"Akari!"

"I'm-" she started but had to take a deep, wheezy breath. "I'm-"

"Are you okay!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around her. "Try and breathe slowly."

His soft grasp on her shoulder actually made the situation worse. She was already finding it hard to breathe because of the smell, but Akihiko's touch just made her nervous, too.

"I'm-" she choked, but her breath caught in her chest and she coughed again.

"Don't try and speak, just concentrate on breathing."

"But I-"

"Please, Akari. It'll make it worse. Close your eyes."

"My...eyes...?" she said croakily; before anything else could be said, her eyes closed and her body felt heavy.

Akihiko was now holding her up. "Akari! Tell me you're still with me."

After a few deep breaths, her breathing had become much calmer. "L-Let's go..."

As she spoke, she put her weight back onto her legs and turned around but they were shaking too much to hold the rest of her body her up. Akihiko picked her up easily, holding her tight and started to walk out of the shop.

"We're going to the dorm. We'll come back tomorrow if you're well enough and pick some clothes before training."

"N-No, Aki…hiko-"

"Akari, think about what just happened. You could hardly breathe."

"I'm okay now..." she whispered hoarsely after falling silent for a while in defeat. "You can put me down."

"And risk letting you run back to the shop to prove you're fine, only to find the same thing happens again?"

Akari was silent because she knew he was right, but was also surprised at how quickly he'd picked up on her stubbornness. Regardless, she struggled to get free; this, however, led to Akihiko chuckling and tightening his grip on her. She squealed and started to tickle him.

"N-No- A-Akari!" he said through laughter.

She absentmindedly stopped tickling him, distracted by his laugh. He stopped laughing and got his breath back instantly; but before she could realise any of this, Akihiko put her down. She stood there like a statue, feeling nervous about what he was going to do next.

"You'll pay for that," he informed her with an evil smirk.

"I'm sorry, sen- Akihiko," she stuttered, quickly correcting herself and stepping backwards. She didn't want him to have any more reasons to get payback.

Akihiko paced towards her until she backed into a wall. Akari looked to her left. The street didn't look familiar and when she looked to her right she realised she was trapped; if she ran, she'd get lost and if she stayed put Akihiko would surely get revenge. He chuckled lightly at her helplessness. Akari's heart thumped heavily at his closeness and she turned her head away as he put his hands against the wall on either side of her waist; Akihiko had no idea that this was a flirtatious move.

"You're not very good at planning an escape route, are you?"

Akari shook her head in defeat. "No..."

He smirked devilishly. "Seems like you're trapped."

She giggled anxiously."W-We should get going before it gets dark."

"You're right. I'll get my revenge another time." Akihiko let his arms drop back to his side. He started to walk away and she began to follow, but suddenly stopped to face her. Without saying a word, he grabbed her hand tight enough so that she couldn't escape and started walking again, not realising that this was making Akari now wonder about his intentions.

"Um, Akihiko?"

"Yes, Akari?"

She couldn't bring herself to ask him. For a minute they walked in silence down a long street lined with houses.

"Is something wrong?"

"I-I was just wondering..."

Akihiko waited patiently and led her around a corner. They reached the end of another street and crossed the road to the next.

"Um...I was wondering why...you held my hand."

"I refuse to let you risk hurting yourself."

Akari blushed and obediently continued down the street with him. They soon arrived at a tall building with a signpost outside reading 'Iwatodai Dormitory'. He finally let her hand go and went up the steps, taking a key from his pocket.

"C'mon, let's go inside."

She just watched him, debating whether to run or not but the sun was starting to set and she was curious of the time so she pulled out her phone and checked it. It was nearly six o'clock. Akari didn't want to annoy Akihiko by going against his wishes, but she didn't feel like she belonged there...it was all too soon and she was having second thoughts about her decision to start a new life in Japan.

"Akari, what are you doing?"

Her heart skipped a beat and she felt a sudden whoosh of butterflies in her stomach, jumping nervously at his call. He was holding the door open and looking down at her from the top of the steps. She stood at the bottom and appeared to be frozen.

"N-Nothing!"

"Then come inside, I'll show you around the dorm."

Akari made an uneasy chuckle. "Oh, I just remembered there's something I need to do!"

"Akari...don't lie to me."

"I'm sorry, Akihiko..." she said quietly, nervously walking up the steps and through the door.

He stepped inside after her and closed the door behind him, making sure it was locked. Akari watched with trepidation, wondering if she'd get a key.

"You won't be getting a key tonight, I'm afraid," he informed her as if he'd read her thoughts.

She eyed the key anxiously."Why not?"

"The other students and I agreed it would be safer for you to stay here at nighttimes and since I don't trust that you won't wander off, I'm going to give you your key when I believe you'll see sense to stay inside when it's dark."

Akari swallowed nervously and wondered why he was treating her like a child. "I'm sorry that I've made you feel like you can't trust me..."

"Don't worry. I'm just making sure you're safe. It's not exactly because I don't trust you."

Akari wasn't sure she really understood. "Okay."

"Good. So, do you want me to show you around or will you be okay?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll be fine from here, it can't be that hard to get lost in the dorm, can it?"

"I guess not," Akihiko agreed. "Your room is on the third floor; it's the one at the end by the window on your right. My room is on the second floor, if you ever need me."

"T-Thanks," she said timidly after he mentioned his bedroom.

He gave her a friendly smile and started to walk across the lounge. Akari bit her lip and stayed put, not really sure what to do. She didn't want to go to her bedroom at the same time as he did as she was so nervous, but felt ridiculously stupid just standing there. Akihiko put one foot on a stair and grabbed the handrail, pausing to look over his shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want me to show you to your room?"

"No, don't worry!"

He let go of the rail and turned around. "You look like you don't know what to do with yourself. C'mon, it's this way."

Akari made her way across the lounge, over to where he waited on the first step. He turned around and began walking up the stairs, but she didn't know where to walk; she felt too embarrassed to walk behind him, yet felt that next to him was inappropriate so she decided to walk on the opposite side of the staircase a few steps behind him and made her way up slowly compared to his quick trot.

"My room is just over there," he informed her, pointing to the right after reaching the top. He looked to the left expecting Akari to be there, but she was a couple of steps behind. "All of the doors have nameplates on them so you'll be able to find it easily. Your room is up those stairs and the farthest door to your right. Do you need me to take you there?"

"It seems easy enough to find..."

Akihiko made an unsure murmur. "All right..."

Akari bowed. "Thank you..."

"Hey, we're friends now, right? There's no need to be so formal." He walked down the corridor to his door and left Akari at the staircase. "See you later."

She returned his pleasant smile and watched him go into his bedroom. Once he'd closed the door, she looked around anxiously. It was all new to her. She'd never lived in a dorm before so she was unsure how everything worked. After deciding to find her bedroom, she found another lounge area at the top of the next staircase, which was similar to the one on the floor below. As she walked along the corridor of bedrooms, she noticed the first two read 'Mitsuru' and 'Yukari' and immediately assumed this was the girls' floor. The next two bedrooms had blank nameplates and so did the two by the wall.

"If I remember correctly...the one on the right is mine..." she muttered to herself, grabbing the handle. It wouldn't open. "Um...or maybe it was the left."

Her luck was no better trying the other door. She decided to try the one on her right again, hoping it was just a little stuck but she just couldn't open it. After taking a deep breath she put all of her strength into twisting the handle; all she succeeded in doing was hurting her hand.

Meanwhile in Akihiko's bedroom, he was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. He couldn't stop worrying about Akari. He sat up and leaned his elbows on his legs, resting his chin in his hands when he heard a bang that sounded like it came from upstairs.

"What the...?" he muttered, looking upwards and staring for a few seconds. Another bang emitted from the floor above.

Akihiko reached the top of the next staircase to see Akari sat on the floor resting against the door, breathing deeply. He rushed over and kneeled down in front of her.

"Are you okay? What happened? I heard banging-"

"I was trying to get into my room..." she said breathlessly. "This is the right one, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, it is. Why are you so out of breath?"

"It won't open. I tried turning the handle both ways and the door opposite this one, but both of them are stuck."

"So what was the banging?"

"I..." Akari started, blushing. "I tried to open it by throwing myself at the door a few times..."

"Ah...I may have been at fault here...no, I am at fault here...um...the doors are locked. Everyone gets a key to their room. I...forgot to give you yours downstairs when I locked the front door. Hold on." Akihiko stood up and rummaged in his pocket for the keys, pulling out a keychain and picked through them with a frown. "It would seem that Mitsuru has your key. Um..."

"Oh, that's okay! I can sleep on a sofa."

"Don't be silly," Akihiko said immediately in incredulity. "You can have my bed tonight; I'll sleep on the floor."

"Akihiko, me sleeping on the sofa is far better than you sleeping on the floor."

"I don't care for one night."

Akari assumed she wasn't going to get out of this one either, but didn't say anything in case there was the off chance that he decided to change his mind.

"C'mon, I'll show you my room." He stood up and reached a hand out. Akari took it and he helped her up, leading her down the stairs. He stopped at his door and froze as he reached for the handle. "You'll have to understand I've never had a girl in here and excuse my embarrassment."

Akari couldn't see his face but figured that he was blushing. "Senpai-"

"Please, I prefer it when you call me A-Akihiko," he said quietly, stumbling on his own name.

Akihiko closed his eyes and opened the door, stepping inside. Akari followed and he nervously watched her enter. It smelled strongly of his cologne, which she discovered she liked and had thus heightened her temperature and anxiety levels. She stopped in her tracks and her feet urged her to leave, but her mind told her to stay; either way, it was too late as he closed the door behind her and grabbed spare covers from his chest of drawers, throwing them on the floor next to his bed.

"Akihiko, I don't think I can let you-"

"It's not your decision. I'm going to sleep on the floor even if you don't take my bed for the night," he told her with a satisfied smirk.

Akari opened her mouth to talk but nothing came out. Instead she looked at him and smiled nervously, feeling no choice but to sleep in his bed that night to make him sleeping on the floor worthwhile. She sat on his bed and rested her hands on her knees. It only took a few seconds for Akihiko to join her.

"Given in yet?"

Akari nodded. "I suppose so...I'd feel bad if you slept on the floor for nothing."

"Good," he said, sounding satisfied as he let out a sigh. "You are very silly."

"Why…?"

"Oh, because you're so nervous. You should try and calm down. It makes me nervous too."

"I'm sorry, senpai..."

He looked at her from the corner of his eyes suspiciously with his face still facing straight ahead. "Senpai?"

"Huh...!" Akari gasped. "I'm not your senpai..."

"No, you're not."

Turning to face her with his head slightly tilted, Akihiko smirked. He leaned close to her; as he did so, Akari scooted away until she hit the wall. She lifted her legs onto his bed, pushing herself towards the other wall. She was now trapped; Akihiko noticed this immediately though. He chuckled and pounced at her, tickling her stomach softly. She giggled, helplessly trying to stop him but he grabbed her light body, laying her down and pinned her arms to his bed with his strong grasp. Her blushing had ceased due to the distraction of being tickled, but it soon returned as they just laid there staring into each other's eyes. Akihiko's face grinned almost evilly, making Akari scared. She smiled nervously in return, averting her eyes to his chest before closing them tight and wriggling, trying to escape from his grasp. Akari knew she wouldn't be able to break free and so did Akihiko; he was having fun and something told him she was too.

"Promise me you'll try hard to stop calling me senpai," Akihiko asked, keeping Akari firmly pinned to his bed.

Akari had finally given up on escaping. She looked at him with nervousness in her expression and nodded. Akihiko let go of her arms and sat himself up on his bed, crossing his legs.

"What do you usually do after school?" Akari asked quietly, quickly edging her legs over the edge of his bed and brushing down her dress.

"Oh, I usually train; either I use my punch bag here, or go to the boxing club. Sometimes I take a jog, too."

"Sounds like fun," she said enthusiastically. "Why don't you go ahead?"

"Um..." Akihiko muttered.

"You can show me what I'm up against."

"You're not really up against anything..."

Akari wondered why Akihiko was so hard on himself. "Why don't you show me how strong you are so I can see how strong I need to become to keep up with you?"


	2. Chapter 2

I firstly want to thank everyone who has read my story and a big thank you to those who already added my story to their favourites even though I'd only posted the first chapter! :D it means a lot to know people are enjoying it so far.

One other note: it appears when I write '! ?' together it changes it to '!' and removes the question mark. I have tried editing the chapters to correct it but it won't change...so my apologies if the grammar looks a little strange at the end of some sentences.

Anyway, enough baffle and on with chapter two! :)

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Two**

Akihiko chuckled at Akari's words. "I don't think you'll become as strong as me for a little while yet."

"Then I'm just going to slow you down."

"Not at all, I'll be teaching you so being as strong as me is irrelevant. By the way, what are your plans for dinner tonight?"

"Um...nothing special. I'll probably just make some pasta since that's quick and easy."

"You...cook?"

"Not from scratch; it's pre-made pasta. I just boil it and add sauce..." she admitted timidly. "I just need to buy-"

"You didn't bring any food?"

"I planned to pick something up on the way to the dorm-"

"Why didn't you say! We could have stopped by at a supermarket to grab something!"

"S-Sorry, I completely forgot-"

Akihiko interrupted her by poking her arm softly. "You really are silly. C'mon, let's see what I've got in the kitchen."

He led her down to the kitchenette and began rummaging through the cupboards. After grabbing a wok and a wooden spatula, he placed them on the hob and poured a little oil into it before grabbing some fresh diced chicken from the fridge. It began to cook slowly.

"So...chicken and...?" Akari wondered.

"Chicken and noodles in soup with vegetables."

"Sounds tasty. Um...won't that take a while to make?"

"Nah."

He was already preparing the soup. Akari watched as he added stock and some other seasonings to some hot water he'd boiled before starting to cook the chicken. Once he mixed the seasonings and stock well into the water, he added some udon noodles and began to boil them.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Akari asked, feeling bad.

"Don't worry, the chicken is done and we're just waiting for the noodles to float. If you really want, you can grab some bowls from that cupboard up there and some chopsticks from the drawer underneath."

"Chopsticks? Um...do you have any forks?"

"Oh, can't you use them? Everyone here at the dorm doesn't usually use anything else, so we've never really needed any...but it's okay, I can teach you."

"Thanks," Akari replied gratefully, even though she knew she had no choice since they had no forks. She presumed she'd need to learn eventually, anyway.

Finally dinner was served. Akihiko sat at the dining table and grabbed his chopsticks. Akari was unsure whether to sit opposite him or beside him.

"Come and sit down," he beckoned, patting the chair next to him. "So with chopsticks, you just hold them like this."

Akari studied how he held them and picked up her pair of chopsticks, attempting to mimic how he held his. She struggled a little, but eventually got them in a similar enough position.

"That's great," he commented. "Now, just move them together and pick up some chicken."

She watched him pick up some chicken and noodles before having a go herself. "You make it look so easy."

Akihiko laughed. "Well, I grew up using chopsticks. Have you ever used them before?"

"Only a couple of times..."

"Wow, I guess I really need to help you practise then. I'll treat you to some ramen at the Beef Bowl one day. The food there is the best."

Akari smiled. "I'll look forward to that."

Akihiko turned back to his food but watched her try to pick up some chicken from the corner of his eye. She had managed to poke one chopstick through the chicken as if it was a skewer and steadied it with the other one; happy with herself, she ate it.

"It's delicious," she said in appreciation.

"I'm glad you like it. I noticed you stabbed the chicken, however. Here..."

Akihiko got up and stood behind her, placing his hand on hers. He moulded it to the position he had his in earlier and helped her pick up another piece of chicken, this time with some noodles. She was blushing furiously in surprise at his body's closeness to hers and tried to ignore how awkward she felt. He gently took his hand away from hers and sat back down.

"Eat up."

She obeyed and ate it. "T-Thanks..."

"No problem. Now, go ahead and try again."

It was difficult to keep her hand in the position Akihiko had put it in after she had to move the chopsticks up and down to grab the food and then eat it. She tried not to show how much she was struggling and stabbed the chicken again, hoping he wouldn't notice but suddenly found a flaw in her plan. She could successfully eat all of the chicken this way, but would then be left with the noodles, vegetables and soup. She looked to her left and noticed him watching from the corner of his eye. Blushing immediately, Akari ate the chicken and silently stared into her bowl.

"Having problems?" Akihiko asked, easily picking up some chicken and noodles. "Don't worry; it takes time to get used to."

Akari attempted to pick up a bit of carrot and some noodles, feeling slightly humiliated.

"Want me to help you again?"

Her cheeks heated up a few more degrees as she reluctantly nodded once. Akihiko stood up to stand behind her again, bending over slightly so his body was almost hugging hers and rested his head on her shoulder, unaware that Akari felt it was inappropriately intimate. He moulded her hand again, but this time he moved her hand to pick up some chicken, noodles and bean sprouts. After gently letting go of her hand, he stayed put and watched her carefully eat the food. Akari was surprised at how well she was able to stop her hand shaking.

"Now, you try once more."

Akari swallowed nervously, focusing on holding the chopsticks and moving them without un-positioning her hand. She delicately tried to pick up a piece of chicken and succeeded but seconds after she began to move it to her mouth it slipped out of the chopsticks, splashing soup on her face; the impact shocked her, making her drop the chopsticks onto the table. One rolled onto the floor, but Akihiko picked it up quickly and stared at her flushing face.

"It's okay, you'll get used to using them eventually," Akihiko assured her with a smile. "Everything takes time. I guess I can let you skewer it all for now."

Akihiko sat back down and continued to eat his food. He looked at her. She appeared to be just grasping how to use her chopsticks. He felt satisfied with his successfulness in showing her how to use them and Akari was grateful for his instructions. Although they were helpful, she needed more time and practice to be able to use the chopsticks properly.

"So," Akihiko started, almost finished with his food already. "What's the project you're working on for?"

"Oh, Gekkoukan want me to make a something similar to a portfolio in preparation as I'm transferring. I've been asked to write an article about the school and its history."

"Wow," Akihiko said with a frown, sipping some soup from his bowl. "I never realised transfer students had to do that."

Akari noticed him drink some more soup and looked back to her own bowl. She had hardly eaten much of hers compared to his, so she tried to pick up a lot of food in one go with her chopsticks. She succeeded and carefully ate it. "They want me to have some background knowledge of the school, just to get an idea of the kind of things they do here and teach me a little about the culture..."

Akihiko finished his soup. "That sounds like a lot of hard work to do before starting a new school."

"Not necessarily. I doubt it will take me long."

Akihiko stared. "How much do you have to write?"

"Only one thousand words. It shouldn't be that difficult for me once I have a little more information. Besides, I already know a fair bit thanks to you."

"Oh, of course." Akihiko placed his chopsticks neatly over his bowl. "Aren't you hungry? You don't seem to have eaten much."

"Oh...um, it's not that."

Akihiko's cheeks flushed pink slightly. "D-Does it taste bad?"

"No!" she exclaimed, grabbing some food. "It's tasty, I promise. I just take longer to finish my meals than most people."

"Won't it be cold now, though? I'm sure it doesn't taste great when it's not hot."

"Senpai, you're worrying too much. It's fine. Why don't you go and train or something whilst I finish this and wash up?"

At first it sounded like a very plausible suggestion in his head, until he remembered how difficult it was to persuade her to take his bed for the night. He rested an elbow on the table and leaned his cheek on his hand. "I'll wait for you."

Akari's heart skipped a beat. "O-Okay..."

He smiled and silently watched her eat the remains of her dinner. She repeatedly told herself not to blush but it was too difficult with Akihiko watching and so she quickly drank the dregs of her soup.

"Thank you, it really was delicious."

"Good, I'm glad." Akihiko swiped her bowl and chopsticks away before she could even stand up and took them to the sink.

"Akihiko-" Akari started as she stood up and rushed over to the sink too. "Please, let me-"

"I've practically done everything now," he informed her, washing the chopsticks. Akari appeared next to him. He looked at her and compared their height, noticing there were a fair few centimetres between them.

"You're too nice...why didn't you let me do anything?"

His cheeks felt strangely warm. "You're a guest today; I can't let you help out in a place that isn't home to you yet."

Akari bit her lip. She wanted to tell him that'd he'd just proved what a kind person he is, but felt far too shy after already subconsciously giving him a compliment. She couldn't see a tea towel to dry the dishes with and after Akihiko's constant refusal against her helping out she didn't try and offer to dry up. However, she did watch him grab a tea towel from a cupboard under the sink to dry his hands with and made a mental note to remember where they were for future reference.

"Now that's out of the way, what do you want to do?" Akihiko asked, stifling a yawn. Akari wanted to yawn after she noticed him trying not to. She couldn't hold it in though and closed her eyes as she yawned sleepily. "Maybe we should go to bed, it is almost nine o'clock."

For some reason, she didn't want to. It felt too early to sleep. Akari was used to much later nights, but the journey had finally ended and she was in her new home for the next couple of years. She tried not to think about that in case it made her homesick already but felt as though it was going to kick in soon anyway.

"You look far too tired to do anything, Akari."

Her eyelids felt heavy. "Maybe...I'm sure I could stay up a little longer-"

"I'm not sure you could keep your eyes open. What do you suggest doing?"

"I don't know...watching something or reading a book, perhaps."

"Hmm…why don't we get ready for bed and see what's on TV? There might be an anime on that's interesting."

Akari looked happy and seemed to have woken up a bit. "Oh, I didn't think you would be the kind of person to watch anime!"

"I don't watch it that much, but I thought you're the kind of girl that would."

She grinned sheepishly and scratched her head in discomfiture.

"Don't be embarrassed."

Akari felt slightly zombie-like and unusually more confident than normal as they parted ways into their respective bathrooms, agreeing to meet back outside the doors in ten minutes. The girls' bathroom was basic, white and shiny. It was also kept very clean and tidy. There were a few flowers in a vase on a shelf and a picture on the wall of a local beach scene. Although it was bare and sound bounced off the walls, it was warm and homely. She started to undress, but suddenly realised her pyjamas were back in the lounge in her backpack so she grabbed a towel, wrapped it around her and went back out.

"Akari...? W-What are you doing!"

Akari jumped and blushed furiously at the sound of a stunned male voice. She froze mid-step and looked to her right, seeing Akihiko sitting on a sofa. "A-Akihiko...u-um…I forgot my backpack and my pyjamas are in there..." she avoided eye contact and stared at his feet, then rushed over to the sofa where he was sat and tripped over her own feet, resulting in a loud thump.

"Are you okay!" he asked fearfully, not moving from his spot on the sofa and holding the arm of the chair tightly.

"Y-Yeah..." she replied quietly, even though her right knee burned and her nose was sore.

"Do you need any help?" he asked nervously, hoping so badly that she was fine.

"I'll be okay...just give me...a few minutes..."

He anxiously waited, now with his eyes closed. It seemed to take forever for her to stand up, retrieve her backpack and then head back to the girls' bathroom, but Akihiko wondered if he was just feeling apprehensive due to the biggest of a few factors: Akari wearing nothing but a towel. He made a noise of surprise when he opened his eyes to check on her, though; she was just standing up and balancing herself, clutching the towel close to her chest.

"Y-You could have told me you were getting up!" he exclaimed, turning away to face the doors that led outside with a bright red face.

"Sorry...!" Akari's cheeks matched the colour of Akihiko's as she hurried across the lounge, making sure her towel didn't slip with her brisk pace. When she entered the bathroom, she accidentally slammed the door shut and dropped her backpack, leaning against the door. She panted for breath and closed her eyes, feeling a bit faint.

"You must be the one," a slow, mysterious and very young-sounding voice said.

Her heart stopped for a second and her eyes darted open. She stared in front of her at a small boy wearing black and white striped clothes. He had jet black hair and bright blue eyes, and was staring at her with a curious smile.

"Who...are you?" she inquired with fright obvious in her tone.

"Time will eventually reveal the answers to the many questions you are destined to ask."

"But...how did you...get in?"

The boy merely smiled. "If you want to proceed, you must sign the contract."

She was frowning in total perplexity. "Contract?"

"There's no need to be scared," he told her after seeing the look on her face. "It only abides you to taking full responsibility for your actions. Don't worry; I have a pen right here."

Her eyes stared widely with raised eyebrows and her mouth frozen slightly open. She blinked once and swallowed hard, closing her mouth. After mentally slapping herself, Akari stepped forwards and took the contract.

_I chooseth this fate of mine own free will._

The paper was violet-blue with a metallic, white scrawl. It more or less read what the mysterious boy had told her. Akari was so confused, but felt herself subconsciously signing her name.

_Akari Rose_

She handed the contract and pen back to the mysterious boy, who took only the contract and folded it up, leaving the pen in her other hand. The next thing she knew, she blinked and the mysterious boy was gone.

"What...was that?" she murmured to herself, deeply inclined to believe she just hallucinated.

Following her decision to ignore what just happened, she dropped the towel and changed into her pyjamas. They consisted of a cotton t-shirt and shorts in pastel blue, dotted with sweet little pandas, all with cute, happy faces. She grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste from her backpack and began to clean her teeth whilst staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her cheeks were fairly flushed and she still had a frightened expression so she tried to calm herself down. She closed her eyes whilst she brushed, letting her mind wander. The mysterious boy immediately appeared in her thoughts. His monotonous voice echoed in her head and so she opened her eyes again to try and make him disappear. After rinsing her mouth out with mouthwash, she thought about Akihiko and began to wonder why she got so nervous around boys. The only reason she could think of was her lack of experience with them, thus explaining her uneasiness when boys were present. One thing she never understood was how she felt more comfortable around them than girls and felt as though she connected better with them, even though she was always more tense in their company.

She noticed there weren't any toothbrushes, toothpaste or mouthwash bottles hanging around the sink or cupboard so she put all of her belongings back in her backpack before stuffing her clothes in there too and slung it over her shoulder. As she opened the door she stood on something and bent down to pick it up; it was the pen the mysterious boy left behind. Akari wondered if she dropped it in astonishment as he'd disappeared. Regardless, she closed the bathroom door and took it with her.

"Are you okay, Akari? You look a little...dazed."

"Don't worry," she said, not wanting to lie or say she may have just hallucinated.

Akihiko put her expression down to stress and tiredness from the journey. He led her to his bedroom, appearing more confident about it this time. Akari put her backpack on the floor at the end of his bed and noticed the pen in her hand. Akihiko didn't, though so she quickly stuffed it in the front pocket. She stood up straight and stretched as she yawned again, seeing him sat against the wall on his bed, resting against a pillow. He patted the space next to him on his bed for her to come and sit. She reluctantly did as requested even though she felt awkward about it.

"So," Akihiko started, turning on his television. "What kind of anime shows do you like to watch?"

"Um..." Akari began, but felt embarrassed to say and stared at the television.

"I'm going to guess...romance, fantasy and ones with cute animals?"

She nodded and attempted to pay attention to the advert that was on screen. Akihiko chuckled to himself and pressed a button on the remote, bringing up a guide to what programmes were showing.

Akari blinked a few times. "That advert had a cute Labrador puppy!"

"Oh, really?" Akihiko said, not looking at her and continuing to scroll through the guide.

"Yeah..." she said quietly. "It reminded me of the Andrex adverts from back home."

This time he turned to look and saw her staring reminiscently at the wall. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine!" she said hastily, giving him her best fake smile in hope that he wouldn't worry.

"Akari, you can tell me if something's bothering you. I won't mind."

She wondered how he could see through her lies so easily. "Um..."

"Don't worry, there's no rush. Tell me when you're ready."

"I-I think...I think I hallucinated when I was in the bathroom."

"What did you see?" There was worry in Akihiko's expression.

"A boy."

"A boy?" he queried, frowning.

"Yes, he was wearing striped clothes like a prison uniform and his eyes were vibrantly blue."

"That is strange...did he say anything?"

"All I can remember is signing a contract."

"A contract for what, exactly?"

"I...don't remember..."

"Hmm..." he murmured. "Perhaps you're just really tired. You have had a long journey, after all. Why don't we see what's on the TV guide? It might take your mind off of it."

"Okay."

Akihiko read through the guide. "Death Note...Lucky Star...Emma – A Victorian Romance-" he stopped there. "Well, that has the word romance in it-"

Akari stared at him and blushed. "W-We don't have to-"

"It's all right; I don't mind trying something new." He selected the show and there was an advert playing. "Are you comfy?"

She nodded and lifted her legs onto his bed to curl up, careful not to be too close to him. "Are you?"

"Yeah. Are you warm enough?" She almost replied with an automatic nod, but didn't when she realised she was actually a little chilly. "You've got goose bumps. Here, get under the covers."

"Thanks." She climbed under the duvet, noticing Akihiko did as well. "You didn't look cold."

He silently shrugged, giving her a charming smile. The anime started with a short introduction by an announcer, so they both turned to the screen to watch it. A dark-haired brunette maid was cleaning the steps outside a large townhouse. She'd just finished sweeping them and began to polish the rails when she looked up towards the houses on the opposite row and saw their chimneys puffing smoke, and then a long opening sequence began, depicting various scenes of Victorian England. The anime finally started with the same maid cleaning a lounge.

"This is where you're from," Akihiko noted. "Right?"

Akari nodded in response, slightly puzzled. "How-?"

"Your accent."

Her puzzlement disappeared but she was instantly distracted and gasped as a grey cat was shown curled up on the steps outside the house. "Aw, that's so cute!"

Akihiko looked at her in the corner off his eye, smiling. He soon turned back to the television to see the cat wake up as a young man stopped by in a horse-drawn carriage. He walked up the steps and was about to knock. Akari appeared to be mesmerised by the cat with an adoring look on her face. The young man took a deep breath, but couldn't muster up the courage to knock. He turned and walked back down the steps, the cat watching interestedly, but a moment later he was back at the door taking another deep breath. He was about to actually knock this time, but the door opened and he was knocked backwards, almost falling down the steps. The maid immediately apologised and ran off to get his hat, which the cat was now dragging away. Akari let out a small giggle. Akihiko just smiled, glancing at her for a second. She was now watching with a dreamy expression as the young man watched the maid serve tea and scones.

Akari gradually continued to get sleepier as the episode reached halfway, but she still emitted small squeaks of 'aw' and a few giggles now and again; as the anime ended with the credits scrolling across the closing scene, her head was slowly drooping to the side, finally falling softly onto Akihiko's shoulder. He made a noise of surprise and asked her if she was asleep; since she didn't respond, he assumed she was in fact deep in the land of nod. He gently supported her head and body with his hands and shifted forwards, laying her down carefully. After making sure she was tucked under the duvet, Akihiko turned off the lamp on the bedside table and got comfy on the floor. "Goodnight, Akari. Sleep well and sweet dreams."

The first few hours of the night passed by peacefully. Akari was naturally good at sleeping; so good that it seemed like her speciality, but at about two o'clock in the morning she started to have a horrific nightmare.

"W-What...?" she murmured under her breath, clenching her fist lightly. Her foot twitched and she scrunched her fist tighter. "No, that can't be...r-right..."

Akihiko stirred in his sleep as her mutterings became a normal speaking level. "Ngh..."

"W-What...are you doing...? Why are you...tying me up? No...!"

He opened his eyes a little, squinting due to tiredness and wasn't really with it.

"Please, let me go...!" Akari pleaded loudly, sounding as if she was about to cry.

"Huh...?" he wondered in absolute confusion, waking up a little more.

Her fist was clasped in a ball even more tightly now and her head shook from side to side. "Untie me! Please!"

"Untie...? What the...?" he mumbled, pulling the blanket off of himself and standing up. He stumbled around in the darkness trying to find the bedside table.

"I'll...do anything..." she said, crying a little.

"Akari, calm down, I'm here-" he started as he found the lamp switch and flicked it on before rushing to his bed. She was sweating a little and fidgeting vigorously. "I'm here."

"P-Please...l-let me go..."

"It's okay, the bad people have gone. It's just me," he assured her, taking her clenched hand.

"Y-You have to u-untie me...so we can get t-to the airp-port, without-"

"Everything's all right now." He felt her hand loosen slightly. "Just take a few deep breaths and relax."

She breathed slowly, doing as he said but her lungs stammered a bit on the intakes. He adjusted his fingers so his hand held hers properly and wiped the tears from her face with his other thumb. Her eyes suddenly opened, though and she blinked lots due to the blurriness from her watery eyes.

"Who are you?" she wondered quietly, unsure who the indistinct figure was. "Where am I?"

"It's Akihiko...and um...you're in...m-my room..."

"Huh...?" she said in confusion with a sniffle. It only took a few seconds for it all to hit her. "O-Oh..."

"Are you all right now?"

"Apart from feeling scared…that dream felt very real."

"How about we see if there's another anime on to help you forget about it?"

"No, it's okay. Thanks, though. You should go back to sleep, senpai."

"Will you be okay to sleep, then?"

"Eventually. Don't worry, okay? Y-You-" she cut off to yawn. "You've helped me enough already."

"Yesterday doesn't count," he reminded her.

"Why? You did so much for me-"

"You were a guest yesterday. In fact, you're a guest now. Until you've moved in properly, you're a visitor to this dorm."

Akari wondered if this was another one of those times she wasn't going to win. She decided to say nothing more about it and closed her eyes. "I'm so tired..."

"Then sleep," he told her with a smile. "It is nearly half past two in the morning and school starts tomorrow."

"Oh, I forgot about school..."

"Not looking forwards to it?"

"Um...not really."

"You'll be okay. School may not be fun, but-"

"Oh, it's not that," she interjected.

"Well you'll make friends easily."

"You don't know that."

"Look how quickly we became friends."

Akari paused before responding, remembering the first time he'd said they were friends. "That's true...okay, well you'll be the only person I know."

"For now, yeah, but tomorrow I'm sure you'll meet Mitsuru and Yukari."

"Maybe so, but you'll be my only friend," she said, emphasising 'friend'.

Akihiko sighed with an unenthusiastic smile at her stubbornness. "You're too nice a person to not make any friends. I have no doubts about it. Just try not to be so stubborn and negative."

"I-I'm sorry..."

"It's all right. Why don't we try sleeping again?"

After giving him a nod, she moved about to try and get comfy. "Okay."

"You sure fidget a lot," he noted, watching interestedly. She let out a nervous chuckle and turned to face the wall, deciding to try lying that way. Suddenly his bedroom went dark, making her gasp. "Are you okay?"

"Mmm," she said sleepily. "Goodnight, Akihiko."

"All right...goodnight, Akari. Sleep well and sweet dreams."

She heard him getting comfy, which didn't take long and closed her eyes, progressing into a deep sleep almost instantly. It took Akihiko at least five minutes before he began to drift off himself.

The rest of the night was tranquil. Morning soon arrived, though; the sun's rays shone brightly through the gap in the curtains, waking Akihiko up. He stretched, stood up and grabbed his phone to check the time. It was seven o'clock. He pulled off his t-shirt and sprayed on his deodorant before putting his school shirt on. Akari made a noise in her sleep, alerting him to her presence. He hadn't noticed her because she was just a small lump under the covers and had thus forgotten all about yesterday, but it all came back very quickly; it was as though he'd frozen for a second halfway through changing his underwear. With great speed he finished pulling on clean ones and his heart raced as he put on his trousers, tucking in his shirt. He slipped his red waistcoat over his shirt and tied the ribbon under his collar. After the spare covers he used that night were tidied away neatly, he checked his phone again. It was five minutes past seven and Akari was still fast asleep.

"Akari..." he murmured, shaking her shoulder softly. "It's time to wake up."

"Ngh..." she muttered, still snoozing serenely.

He gently poked her arm. "C'mon, sleepy head."

"Aki...hiko...?" she muttered.

"Yeah, it's me," he confirmed, thinking she was waking up.

"N...gh..."

"C'mon, you need to get up. We need to have breakfast-" he cut off when he looked at her. She was still far away in the land of nod. "Akari!"

"Ahh!" she screamed, waking up with a start as he pounced on her.

"Good morning," he greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"W-Who are you? Where am I?"she stuttered in shock.

"It's Akihiko," he said with a frown, feeling déjà vu. "…And you're in my room at the Iwatodai dorm."

"What...? Oh, that's right...um..."

"You don't remember?"

"I do now...it's just...I'm not used to being here yet so I was confused..."

He positioned himself so he was now sat next to her instead. "Ah, I see...so, how are you feeling?"

"S-Sleepy..."

"I gathered that," he said with a chuckle. "But you're okay, though?"

"I think so. How about you?" she replied politely, sitting up.

"Glad to hear it. I'm fine, thanks. You should get ready and meet me downstairs for breakfast in ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" she queried as he got up and walked to the door.

"Yeah, since we leave for school at eight that gives us less than forty-five minutes."

"School! Oh, crap..."

"What's wrong?"

"My project...I still have to finish it."

"When's it due?"

"At some point today, before school ends."

"I'll help you during lunchtime, then you can hand it in after school."

"Really! Thank you so much-"

"Don't worry about it. You should hurry and get up if you want some egg rice, though."

With that, Akihiko left Akari alone in his bedroom, closing the door behind him. She felt a bit dazed after what just happened; an extremely handsome guy she'd only met yesterday let her sleep in his bed for the night and was now making her breakfast. Akari's eyes scanned his bedroom as she pulled the covers away and hung her legs over the edge of his bed. It smelled strongly of him, she noted as she stood up and stretched her whole body. She undressed, grabbed clean underwear and her school uniform, beginning to change. Once she was ready, she grabbed her purse from her backpack which was a cute, white cat face and stuffed her phone, a pen and USB stick inside before slinging it over her shoulders and making an exit from Akihiko's bedroom. Just as she was about to open the door she saw a photo on the back of it of what looked like a younger Akihiko and an even younger little girl. She had similar silver hair and chocolate eyes. Akari smiled fondly back at them.

A sudden rapping on the door scared her. "Akari?"

Akihiko's voice on the other side made her nervous. "O-Oh, hi senpai, I'm just coming-"

"Good, because the rice is ready and the two girls who live here want to meet you."

"Wow that was fast..." she commented, trying to ignore the part about meeting strangers.

"Rice doesn't take long to cook."

"That's true..."

The door abruptly opened and Akihiko peeked his head through the gap. "You know, we might as well be talking on the way to the kitchen."

She silently agreed and pulled the door open further, grinning at him. "H-Heh...l-let's go."

Akihiko stood back to let her go ahead so he could lock his door. "You need to come out of my room first."

Realising what he'd said was true, she felt her cheeks heating up and quickly exited his bedroom. After he locked his door they went downstairs where two pretty girls were sat at the dining table eating rice and chatting energetically. Akari was immediately jealous of their looks; the one with long, wavy wine-red hair whom was facing them averted her matching maroon eyes from the light brunette opposite her and noticed their arrival.

"Good morning," she welcomed in a formal voice, making the other girl turn around.

"Oh, hey! Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully.

Akihiko nudged Akari. She looked at him and he motioned towards the girls. "G-Good morning."

"This is Akari," Akihiko informed them, walking to the kitchenette. "She's the transfer student."

"I'm Yukari," the cheery girl told her. "This is Mitsuru-senpai."

"It's nice to meet you both."

"It's nice to meet you too."

"I heard you two got acquainted fairly early yesterday afternoon," said Mitsuru.

Akihiko blushed at the memory as he spooned rice into two bowls."Yeah...um, Akari, do you want anything with your rice?"

Akari instantaneously diverted her attention to him and food. "What do you have?"

"Soy sauce, honey, teriyaki sauce…you should choose quickly though. It'll go cold."

"Honey," she finally decided in a rush and took it from his hand as he held it out for her. She squeezed it all over the rice, letting her love for sweet things take over.

"That's a lot of honey."

"O-Oh..." she murmured, giving the bottle back to him. "I love sweet things..."

"I think you'll fall in love with the Sweet Shop, then."

Her eyes lit up as she followed him to the dining table and Mitsuru stood up as they both sat down to take her empty bowl to the kitchenette. "Heh...I'm sure I would."

"I'll have to take you there one day."

"I'd love that!"

Mitsuru had already washed up her bowl and grabbed her bag. "I'm leaving now; I'll see you all later."

"But it's only twenty to eight, we didn't plan to leave for another twenty minutes-" Yukari began.

"I know, but I have a meeting with my tutor before the assembly today. Please accept my apologies, it was arranged just before we ate breakfast."

"Okay..." Yukari said hesitantly, finishing her own rice and then she too left the table to wash up.

Akari nervously watched Akihiko eat his rice with satisfaction, picking at her own bowl. Her first bite was delicious, but she didn't feel that hungry.

"So, Akari-" Yukari started at the same time as Akihiko spoke.

"Akari, aren't you-" he cut off at the same time. "Go ahead, Yukari."

"No, it's okay, you can go first, senpai," she said sweetly as she dried her hands. "Little miss popular already, huh?"

Akari blushed a little and forced down a second mouthful of rice so she didn't have to reply.

"It's all right," Akihiko told Yukari, watching Akari eat. "It seems my question has been answered."

"Oh, okay...well, then...I was going to ask you if you wanted to come to school with me, Akari but it seems you've got Akihiko-senpai to show you around-"

"I've already given her a short tour," he informed Yukari. "However, I also have a tutor meeting except mine's during the assembly. You should go with Yukari."

She really didn't want to since she didn't know Yukari well enough to converse with her confidently and felt too shy to ask if they could all go together, but it seemed the matter wasn't open for discussion and had already been settled.

"So," Yukari started as Akihiko cleared up his and Akari's dishes.

"Thanks," Akari said to him. He looked at her directly, making eye contact with a friendly smile and nodded once.

"How did you two meet?"

"Um..." Akari began timidly. "I was walking to Gekkoukan to take a look around and we...bumped into each other-"

"Not literally, right?"

"Um...y-yeah..."

Akihiko blushed, remembering everything and accidentally dropped the chopsticks he was drying up.

"Awe!" Yukari squealed. "And then what happened!"

He interrupted their conversation in embarrassment. "I'm off now, I'll see you later Yukari. Akari, I'll meet you in the library at lunchtime."

Akari and Yukari called goodbye to him as he grabbed his coat and bag. Akari pleaded him not to leave without her with her eyes. He simply smiled as he was closing the door, but his eyes seemed to be apologising for leaving her alone with someone she'd only just met.

Yukari was rummaging through her bag and Akari grabbed her phone from her purse, checking the time. If they left at eight o'clock like planned, they had fifteen minutes before they left. A part of her wanted to leave now and find her own way there, but something stopped her and she patiently waited for Yukari to get ready.

"What are you looking for?" Akari finally forced herself to ask.


	3. Chapter 3

A big thank you once again to all those who are following my story. It means a lot! ^_^

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Three**

"I'm just trying to find this piece of homework I finished a couple of nights ago. I wanted to read through it once more before I hand it in...not that I can really change it now, there's no time," Yukari eventually replied to Akari's question.

"When's it got to be in?" Akari asked, attempting to keep the conversation going.

"I have to give it to Miss Toriumi in my first class, so..." she informed her, finally finding her piece of work. "I don't suppose you could read through it on the way and tell me what you think, could you?"

"Okay."

Yukari sat on the sofa and looked anxious as she began to read through her paper. "I don't think I wrote enough..."

Akari didn't know what to do whilst Yukari read through her work. She looked around the lounge and wondered what would keep her occupied. "I might go ahead and make my way to school-"

"Oh, you can't do that!" Yukari interrupted quickly. "Mitsuru-senpai told me to make sure we go together."

"But I think I can remember the way-"

"Well Akihiko-senpai agreed with her...it'd be best to just go with it, for now. I'm sorry."

Akari felt bad for protesting since it wasn't Yukari's fault. "No, it's not your fault. I'm the one they don't seem to trust."

"It's only because you've just arrived and they want you to be safe. Weird things have been happening here lately. When I was the new girl, Mitsuru-senpai was practically my shadow. I wasn't allowed out at night...it was like living with strict parents."

"Oh, are Akihiko-senpai and Mitsuru-senpai...?"

"No, it's nothing like that. I didn't mean it in that way. Mitsuru-senpai is just really strict and Akihiko-senpai...well, he just goes along with what she says, but I know it's just because he cares. Sometimes I think she goes overboard with her power in controlling him, though."

Akari didn't know what to say; a part of her did however feel relieved to hear that they weren't a couple since Mitsuru gave off a superior vibe already. She didn't want someone like her to hate her for hanging out with Akihiko as much as she has been lately. "When you said weird things have been happening, what did you mean by that?"

"Um..." Yukari seemed to be at loss for words. "Random people have been developing zombie-like symptoms. Surely you've seen it on the news?"

"I haven't seen the news since I arrived here. In England they don't really mention much Japan-related news..."

"Oh, well in that case don't worry about it. They're just being precautionary. Anyway, I'll finish reading this and we'll go."

Akari waited patiently. It didn't take Yukari long. Time somehow passed quickly on the journey to Iwatodai Station and before she knew it, they were on the train to Port Island Station. Yukari took a window seat and Akari automatically sat next to her. The carriage was full of students wearing the Gekkoukan uniform and many seemed to be staring and whispering about them.

"I wonder if she's the transfer student," a voice whispered from what Akari guessed was the seat behind.

"It would make sense, since she-"

"Here," Yukari said, interrupting Akari's eavesdropping and handing her the paper. "Thanks so much for reading it."

Akari smiled and took it, spending the rest of the time on the train reading it. She praised Yukari's work as she finished it on their exit from the station.

"So you really think it's good enough?"

"Of course, it's better than I could do."

"Haha, thanks...still, I don't know how good you are yet so we'll have to wait and see."

Yukari led the way from Port Island Station to Gekkoukan High School. Akari recognised the street the school was on by the blooming cherry blossom trees lining the path. This made her realise she didn't know the way after only just being familiar with this part of the journey. Together they walked up the path to the entrance and Akari stopped with Yukari at her locker.

"Um...do you have a locker?" she asked, unlocking hers and pulling out some books.

"I don't think so."

"Oh...that's right. You probably have to go to the Faculty Office and speak to someone. It's just through there on the left."

Akari remembered what classrooms were where now Yukari had mentioned that and nodded. "Okay. I'll see you later."

"Bye, Akari. See you tonight."

She fretfully walked through the busy entrance hall, feeling lots of students staring in her direction and no doubt gossiping about her, too. She tried her best to avoid their faces as she searched the crowds in faint hope of finding Akihiko. Her nerves disappeared when she reached the door labelled 'Faculty Office', however; she rapped on the door and waited fervently for someone to answer.

"Come in," a female voice called from inside.

Akari immediately entered and slid the door shut in a hurry, eager to block out the prying eyes of Gekkoukan students. The clock on the wall read twenty-five minutes past eight; she wondered when her first class began. There were many desks in the Faculty Office, all of which were occupied and she wondered which teacher had beckoned her inside. A few older-looking students were at some of the desks with what Akari assumed were their tutor group teachers so she started looking out for Akihiko after remembering he had a meeting this morning, but before she could finish scanning them a woman in a brown suit approached her.

"Good morning," she said. "Can I help you?"

"U-Um-" Akari stuttered and noticed a couple students glancing at her. "I'm Akari Rose-"

"Ah, Akari! Welcome to Gekkoukan High School. I understand you're transferring here from England." Akari simply nodded. The teacher took a file from a shelf and walked over to her desk. Akari followed her automatically and sat down opposite the teacher. "I'm Miss Toriumi and I teach Composition."

Akari was told that Miss Toriumi was her tutor. There was a brief discussion about basic school rules and traditions before she led her to the hall for the beginning of term assembly. Somehow, Yukari had managed to find her as everyone filed into seats so they sat together. The principal began a long, droning speech, seemingly boring a couple of male students close by. Their voices were low, but just loud enough that Akari could eavesdrop again.

"We got ourselves a transfer student," one boy told his friend, sounding very sleazy.

"Yeah, I heard she came to school with Yukari."

An unfamiliar male teacher scolded them. Miss Toriumi joined in, worried she'd get into trouble if her class was caught chatting through the assembly and they listened to the rest of the Principal's speech obediently. The rest of the morning was just as slow. All of her classes involved at least one form and brief chats with the teachers. None of the classes got around to starting any work, either. Each teacher would introduce themselves, their subject and what they'll be covering in their first term, which took a good while. They then labelled books and took part in subject-related quizzes. Lunchtime finally arrived, to Akari's relief and she left to find the library. It was a surprisingly simple task; it took her less than five minutes to get there. She patiently waited outside the door for Akihiko, writing something very long on her phone to pass the time.

"Hey, Akari."

Akari recognised Akihiko's voice and thus quickly saved her notes, looking up with a smile. "Hello, Akihiko."

He returned the smile straight away. "How was your morning?"

"It was okay. It went by so slowly, though. What about you?"

"Oh, um...pretty normal. Shall we go in and finish your project?"

"Okay." Akari led the way and pulled the door open. Akihiko followed her through the barrier and stopped next to her in front of some tables. "Um...where do you want to sit?"

"Let's go over here," he decided and walked through the tables to the bookshelves. She followed him in confusion to a secluded computer desk where he put his coat on the back of the chair. "I'll grab another chair."

A minute later, he was back and Akari was standing there waiting. He put the chair down, she thanked him quietly and they sat down. Akihiko logged onto the computer and groaned at the sight of his school email inbox, which automatically popped up. He closed it and sighed.

"Are you okay, senpai?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Do you have a USB stick with-"

She was already pulling one out of her cat purse."Yep."

Akihiko took it and put it in the computer. "Are your photos on here as well?"

"Mhm." Akari nodded and automatically swapped seats with him.

"Okay, well let's get started then."

Akari looked blankly at him. "Um..."

He stared inquisitively. "What's wrong?"

She grabbed the mouse and looked for a word processor."Oh, it's okay, I found Gekkoukan's version of Microsoft Word."

"All right." Akihiko stood up. "I'm going to look for a book, I won't be long."

Her fingers were swiftly tapping the keyboard and her mind was focusing intently on her project so she only half acknowledged him disappearing. When he reappeared, his eyes scanned the computer screen. He was sure he'd been ten minutes at the most and she had almost written a whole page already. After sitting back down next to her, he began to read the book he'd picked up about advanced boxing strategies.

"Finished," she said about twenty minutes later as she saved her work.

"Well done," he said, not looking up from his book.

She looked at him and studied his features whilst he seemed to be concentrating hard on his book. For the first time she noticed his eyes were a mixture between dark and milk chocolate and realised he seemed to have a permanent plaster on his forehead above his left eye. She didn't want to disturb him from reading so her mind started to wander as she let herself daydream.

"Shall we go and find somewhere to have lunch?"

He stood up and picked up the chair. Akari followed him back to the tables and waited by the barrier whilst he checked out the book he was reading. A group of giggling girls entered and she was very sure she heard them say Akihiko. Sure enough, she was right and they crowded around him at the desk. His face clearly showed how uncomfortable and awkward he felt, but the girls didn't seem to care as they tried to make conversation with him.

"I have to be somewhere," he told them. Somehow he managed to escape and hurried through the barrier. "C'mon, Akari."

Akari quickly followed, not wanting to see their reaction when they realised he was hanging out with her. She continued to walk close behind him down the corridor and through to the queue in front of the desk in the entrance hall. Her eyes nervously darted around, knowing people would be staring. She shuffled close to him in hope people wouldn't be able to see her.

He looked at her. "Is something wrong?"

"P-People are staring at me..." she said in almost a whisper.

Akihiko looked around; many students were in fact looking at them and gossiping to each other. "That's something you're going to have to get used to if we hang out at school. It didn't take me long to become accustomed to."

She couldn't ignore their watching faces and felt herself blushing. "I-I don't want to cause rumours..."

"I don't have to do anything to cause rumours, they just happen."

That made her feel even worse. "I-I'm going to go-"

"Where?"

"To Miss Toriumi's classroom. I'm going to give her my project."

"What about your lunch?"

"Um...I'll eat when I get home tonight..."

He sighed. "You didn't bring any food or money, did you?"

She looked at her shoes in embarrassment. "N-No..."

"Oh, Akari..." he said with a smile. "It can be on me today."

"Oh no, it's okay, I can't let you-"

"You need to eat properly. So, have you made any new friends?"

"I suppose Yukari's my friend now," she said thoughtfully, trying to ignore the other students' stares.

Akihiko felt slightly disappointed; he'd expected her to at least be friends with her class already. "Well...I said you'd make friends easily and you're already friends with Yukari."

"She probably doesn't see me as a friend yet."

"Akari-" he started, but got cut off by the clerk.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"Um...I'll have two yakisoba breads, please. What do you want, Akari?"

"Um..." she murmured, looking around at the food available. "I don't know. I haven't tried much Japanese food, so I'll just have an apple strudel. Thank you."

"Make that three yakisoba breads," he told the clerk.

"Um, senpai..." Akari trailed off, about to tell him she said she wanted an apple strudel.

Akihiko paid and thanked the clerk. He took the breads and gave one to Akari as they started to walk away.

"Thank you...I'll make sure to pay you back."

"No, it's my treat," he insisted before taking a bite of his bread. "Why don't we sit outside for the rest of our break?"

"Okay," she agreed and hadn't started to eat her bread yet since she felt really bad that he'd bought it for her.

They found a quiet spot under a tree in the field where tennis practice takes place. Akari sat down next to him and took a small, apprehensive bite of her bread. The sun was shining as brightly as the previous day and its warmth felt nice on their faces.

"It's so nice out," Akihiko said, finishing his first bread. Akari silently agreed and took another little bite. "Do you like the bread?"

She nodded and took a larger bite as though to prove it. They sat in content silence, just enjoying the peacefulness and the occasional twitters of various birds.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you an apple strudel."

"It's fine!" she assured him, trying her best to smile.

"Hmm... well, I just thought you should eat something healthier than a sweet snack for your lunch."

"I completely agree. I didn't know what a lot of it was, anyway. Thanks for helping me try something new." Akari wondered if the sun was warming his cheeks or whether he was blushing slightly; he didn't seem embarrassed so she went for her initial thought. "It's really warm out here..."

"Mmm..." Akihiko agreed, finishing his second bread.

"In England it would probably be raining."

"Isn't that something England is famous for?"

Akari giggled. "Yes, it is."

She was smiling and looking down at her knees cheerfully. Akihiko smiled to himself as he gazed at her, but when he realised he was staring he felt himself blushing and cleared his throat. "U-Um...we should probably get going..."

Her eyes met his and she saw his slightly pink cheeks. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

They walked in silence all the way to the Faculty Office where Akari apprehensively dropped off her project for the Principal. The two of them went separate ways when they reached second floor and she hurried to her classroom. When she entered, many students were in groups chatting amongst themselves, waiting for the teacher to arrive. Akari searched the classroom for Yukari, but she didn't seem to be there yet.

"What's up?" said an unfamiliar guy in a baseball cap from a nearby desk. "You look like a deer in headlights."

Akari smiled shyly. "Heh...I'm new here...s-so..."

The guy grinned. "Well, it's nice to meet ya. I'm Junpei. Why don't you take the desk next to mine? It's free."

She obeyed and sat down. "I'm Akari."

"At it again!" Yukari's familiar voice said loudly. Junpei and Akari whipped their heads to the left, as did a few other students; Yukari had entered the classroom with a slightly disgusted look. "Doesn't it ever occur to you that you might be bothering someone?"

Akari was confused and apparently so was Junpei.

"But I was just being friendly!" he defended.

"Oh, come on. Akari's just got here and doesn't need you hitting on her on the first day of school."

Akari wanted to say something to defend Junpei, but decided to stay out of it. They continued to quarrel until the teacher arrived, too. The rest of the afternoon went by at a snail's pace and was just as tedious as the morning's classes. Once the final class ended, Akari grabbed her books and left the classroom, hoping she blended in with the crowd of students leaving school. She wondered if she should try and find Akihiko, but reached the school gates without being able to spot him on the way. Junpei and Yukari weren't anywhere to be seen, either so her feet carried her body solemnly through the gates. She wanted to wait in case one of the only four people she knew recognised her but felt disheartened when her body told her mind to walk home alone.

The door was locked when she got back to the dorm. She tried the handle a fair few times before deciding nobody else was home yet. This left her wondering what to do until someone with a key arrived. She sat on the stone steps and idly wiggled her toes, sighing sadly. "Come on, Akihiko-senpai..."

It felt as though hours had passed, when in fact it was almost only fifteen minutes since she sat down. Quick footsteps and a jingle of keys came out of nowhere, bringing her wandering mind back to Earth. With great haste, she stood up in one movement with wide eyes. She could now see the figure with a familiar red waistcoat approaching.

"Akari?" he wondered, nearing the steps.

"Akihiko-senpai!" she said elatedly with a broad smile.

He chuckled and walked up the steps. "What's gotten you so excited?"

"I'm just glad to see you!"

Akihiko blushed as he unlocked the door. "...You are?"

Akari blushed this time. "Y-Yes...well...I mean, I don't have a key and I was waiting for someone who does..."

"Oh, that's right. I'm sorry," he apologised. "I'll see to it that Mitsuru gives you a key as soon as she can."

"No, don't rush it, I can wait."

"It's okay; I should have just given you my key or something instead of being cautious. I should have just trusted you, like my gut instinct told me...I knew you'd be the first one home..."

He slumped onto a sofa. Akari joined him on the opposite sofa and felt bad. "You shouldn't blame yourself so much."

"But it's all my fault," he insisted.

"No, it's not. You have every right not to trust me; we've only just met-"

"But we're friends."

She didn't know how to come back to that and had to think about her response. Friends trust each other, so if they were friends he would have given her his key. "We weren't friends when you decided not to give me a key."

"True...and Mitsuru convinced me to wait before letting you have one. I did try and figure out for myself that day whether or not I felt I could trust you. If you weren't so stubborn, maybe I would have given you my key."

Her cheeks flushed a little. "I'm sorry..."

"No, Akari...I'm the one who's sorry. I'll speak to Mitsuru tonight."

"I don't mind waiting outside. I can take a book to school and read that if I get home earlier than everyone else."

"What if it's raining?"

"Oh...um..." Akari was stumped. She showed it in her expression and furrowed her eyebrows in thought, trying to think of a way around the rain. "I'll buy an umbrella-"

"You can't just sit outside in the rain, you'll catch a cold. Hey, why don't we forget this and go upstairs? I'll show you a few basics of warming up."

Akari was just glad he changed the subject and nodded; she wasn't really paying much attention to what he was saying now. He stood up, she followed suit and they went up to his bedroom, the familiar strong cologne of his hitting her nose as she entered.

"Are you okay?"he asked, closing the door.

"Y-Yeah..." she said nervously, autonomously getting lost in his scent.

"Good. Oh yeah, you should um...go change into your gym clothes..."

"O-Okay..." she complied almost inaudibly with a brave smile before she left.

Akihiko returned the smile. Once she closed the door and he was sure he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, he stripped and put on his boxing shorts. After spraying on some deodorant he hit a few punches on his punch bag, but didn't get to practise for very long because a knock on his door interrupted him.

"Who is it?" he called, frozen mid-punch.

"It's me, Akari."

He quickly bounded across the floor and opened the door. "You could have just come in."

Her feet automatically took her over to his bed where she sat down, feeling very tense. "What if you were in the middle of getting changed?"

"O-Oh...yeah, of course. Um...well, then...shall we get started?"

She nodded energetically. "Okay."

He started to take her through a series of simple stretches. Akari felt happy with herself when she was able to mimic them easily. He praised her after she completed each one, which resulted in her cheeks becoming a darker shade of pink each time.

"You're doing really well," he complimented, rolling his neck in a full circle with her.

"T-Thanks," she almost whispered, smiling to herself and keeping her eyes closed.

"Do you feel relaxed now?"

"Yes, I feel ready to start practicing."

Akihiko chuckled. "Sorry, we won't be doing anything more than relaxing the muscles today."

"What? Why not?"

"I don't want you to rush into it. Besides, we need to get used to each other first, so doing relaxation stretches might help."

"True..." she agreed, checking her phone. It was ten minutes past five. "We've been stretching for almost an hour."

"That's quite a long time for just doing stretches..." he muttered. "Still, it's comparable to doing yoga or Pilates. I'm supposed to be teaching you the basics, too and there are a fair few, depending on what you're warming up for."

"It's a lot to take in..."

He smiled affectionately. "That's okay. Let's continue for another ten minutes then call it a day. There's only a couple more stretches I want to show you and we can go over them all again tomorrow."

Together they finished the stretches and decided to have showers before making dinner. When they arrived in the dining area, Mitsuru and Yukari were sat on a sofa discussing something. Akihiko walked straight into the kitchenette, not wanting to disturb them and Akari followed suit. She leant against a counter and watched him search the cupboards.

"...think we should do it tomorrow night," came Mitsuru's quiet voice. Yukari was too quiet for Akari to hear; that and she was now paying a lot more attention to Akihiko.

"We should go to the supermarket tomorrow," he told her. "And the sports shop."

"Hey, Akari!" Yukari's voice called from the lounge.

She turned her head around quickly to look at Yukari. "Hi, Yukari. What's up?"

"I was just wondering what your plans are for tomorrow night."

"I haven't really decided yet, but I doubt I'll be doing much."

"Cool."

Yukari gave her a friendly smile and casually looked back to Mitsuru. Akari felt suspicious and returned her attention to Akihiko, stepping closer to him. "Is there anything I can do?"

"You could grab some chopsticks," he suggested, watching the noodles boil. "I hope you don't mind having pretty much the same as yesterday."

"Not at all, it was tasty."Akari guessed he wasn't going to let her help again and took two pairs of chopsticks from a drawer.

They ate dinner in the lounge. Akari sat next to Akihiko, Yukari was sat on the opposite sofa and Mitsuru was engrossed in a book in the armchair. Akari noticed Mitsuru's book was called 'Edwardian Etiquette'. Akihiko kept making a face that made it seem as though he wanted to say something to Mitsuru. Akari carefully ate her meal, though she was struggling with chopsticks again.

"Remember yesterday," Akihiko said, watching her fail to pick up some noodles.

She blushed and tried again, keeping her eyes on her bowl. After a few more attempts, she took a glance at Mitsuru who was looking curiously over her book. This made her cheeks flush redder and she stood up. "I-I'm going to finish dinner in my room, I'm really tired."

"Akari-" he started as she walked over to the staircase.

Mitsuru and Yukari watched too as she quickly went up the stairs and out of sight. Akihiko immediately got up and began to follow, but Mitsuru called him before he reached the bottom step. Akari stopped on the first step of the second staircase after hearing Mitsuru call him back; her body seemed to have decided she was too curious and was going to eavesdrop.

"Leave her be," came Mitsuru's faint voice.

"Yeah," Yukari's voice agreed, a bit louder than Mitsuru's. "Sometimes us girls just need some time alone."

"She was just embarrassed," Akihiko informed them. Akari wasn't in their sight but felt her cheeks heat up regardless. "I've been trying to teach her how to use chopsticks."

"Oh, they don't use chopsticks in England much," Yukari realised. "She shouldn't feel so bad since she's not used to them."

"I know," Akihiko agreed, sighing.

There was silence for about thirty seconds before Mitsuru spoke. "We have something to tell you. The chairman was informed about Akari moving into the dorm and thought it would be a good idea to monitor her tomorrow night."

Akari's heart thudded like a hammer. "What...?"

"Why?" asked Akihiko. "Does he think she has the potential?"

"Not as such, he just said it's an opportunity to take advantage of. If it turns out she does then it'll be a helpful coincidence."

She frowned. "Potential...?"

"He's coming over after school tomorrow to introduce himself to her," Yukari informed him.

Her mind was very confused. She wondered what they were talking about and her food had been forgotten as she stood rigidly in the same position as when she began eavesdropping.

"I'm going to check up on her to make sure she's okay."

At that, she gasped and hurried up the staircase, hearing Akihiko catching up to her.

"Akari?" he called.

"Crap," she muttered, realising he must have heard her going up the stairs but continued as though she didn't hear him.

"Akari, didn't you hear me call you?" he asked as he stopped behind her outside her door.

"Um...yes..." she told him, only just remembering she didn't have a key.

"Then why didn't you stop?" Akihiko stared at the back of her head since she was still facing the door and he waited for her to answer. "Oh, here's your key. Mitsuru just gave it to me."

She turned around and took it gently, looking at the floor. "Thanks..."

"Yukari agreed with me that you shouldn't be embarrassed about not being able to use chopsticks."

"I heard..."

Akihiko looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry I told them-"

"It's okay. They probably figured it out when they saw me eating."

"We can buy some cutlery when we go shopping if it'll make you feel better."

"I don't want to stand out, but I'm screwed either way."

"Not if I carry on teaching you how to use them."

"Oh, you don't have to, I'll get used to them eventually...you've done too much for me, senpai."

"Not at all, this is a big change for you. I thought you'd appreciate someone to help you out after transferring from England."

"I do appreciate it, I really do," she assured him with a sincere smile. Their eyes met and he smiled back warmly. "I just feel so bad. I don't want to be a burden to you. I can't imagine it's nice for you to be...escorting me around and...looking after me."

Akihiko's cheeks went a little pink from the way she'd described his help. "I-I don't mind. Hey, is your food cold?"

"Oh, my food..."

"Wait outside my room. I'll sort out the leftovers." His hand was outstretched waiting for her bowl. She automatically gave it to him and he rushed back down the corridor.

When she got to his door, she waited patiently for him to come back up the stairs. A few minutes later she heard footsteps and smelled the appetising aroma of dinner. It made her stomach rumble, which made her realise how little she'd eaten.

He gave her one of the bowls and unlocked his door. "Aren't you coming in?"

She entered after seeing his expectant expression. "Senpai..."

He cleared his throat. "What did you say?"

"Um...oh, I'm sorry, Akihiko...I always forget to stop calling you that..."

Akari wondered if he was pondering whether or not to punish her. They sat on the bed together and he guided her when necessary with chopsticks again. Once both of them had finished, Akihiko took their dishes away to clean up, leaving her alone in his bedroom. She stood up and had a look at the photo on the back of his door again, coming to the conclusion that the little girl must be his sister and also noticed the walls were bare apart from one poster. She didn't understand what it said and guessed it was in Latin. To her surprise, his bedroom wasn't messy. Every time she'd been in it, everything was tidy and clean. Clothes were tidied away in his chest of drawers and laundry bin, the floor was spotless and his bed was made neatly.

"Are you okay?"

Akari jumped out of her skin. "Y-Yeah!"

"I mean, after coming up here and not stopping when I called you."

"Oh...don't worry about me. I was just embarrassed, which is probably why I didn't stop..."

"You don't know why you didn't stop, do you?"

She shook her head and bit her thumbnail with watery eyes. "I'm really sorry..."

"No! I didn't mean I'm annoyed..." he quickly assured her. Her eyes looked uncertainly into his; as they made eye contact he blushed. "I-I was worried..."

"About me? Akihiko-senpai..."

His cheeks continued to flush but he didn't look away from her. A single tear ran down her face; he saw it and stepped closer to her and wiped it away with his thumb. Akari blushed too now and had an inappropriate urge to snuggle into him; she swallowed nervously, moving backwards. He followed her until she walked backwards into his bed but before she could fall onto it, he embraced her.

"It's okay," he whispered, hugging her closely. He gently pushed her head onto his shoulder and stroked her hair. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I-It's not so much that something's wrong..." she told him quietly, softly hugging him back.

"Oh?" he wondered curiously, blushing even more as he subconsciously enjoyed the scent of her strawberry and cream scented hair. "Then...why are you tearing up?"

"I don't know...something just feels so right...so...normal..."

"I've had that feeling recently. It's...odd, to say at the least."

Akari was about to pull away but before she could, he squeezed her tightly. She attempted to hug him tighter too, though her effort wasn't noticeable to him. "I'm weak."

"We'll work on that."

And so they spent the rest of the evening watching anime. They first watched the second chapter of 'Emma – A Victorian Romance' and then a random episode of 'Lucky Star', which led to Akari having a giggle fit almost throughout the next show. A nine o'clock newsflash followed that, mentioning the cherry blossoms being at their peak this week; Akihiko's memory was jogged to when he bumped into her and he tried hard not to blush, knowing he would at the thought of the incident. He looked at Akari. She didn't seem to have remembered. Either that or she was doing very well not to show it.

"I guess we should go to bed," Akihiko said sleepily.

"You get tired so early," she noted.

"For someone who can't wake up in the mornings you go to bed very late."

She absentmindedly let out a giggle. "I never feel tired enough to try and sleep until at least eleven o'clock...that and I haven't gotten used to the time difference yet."

"Of course...hey, now you have the key to your room you can watch anime all night if you wanted."

"T-That's true..." she agreed, feeling slightly rejected. "I'm sorry for making you put up with me all this time-"

"Not at all, Akari. I just think you should try to sleep."

"You're right...I'm sorry. I'll get my things and see you in the morning." Akari stood up.

"Y-You don't have to go right now," he rushed as she retrieved her backpack from the end of his bed.

"No, you're right; I'll watch anime until I fall asleep or something."

"You could do that with me," he suggested, soon blushing after realising what he'd said. "I-I mean..."

She looked at the floor, blushing too and replied quietly. "I'd prefer that..."

Akihiko smiled with relief and patted the bed. "Then come and sit back down."

Obeying, Akari silently sat next to him again. She made sure there was plenty of space between them so they weren't touching and then got comfy. It was as if the previous evening was repeating itself. Although she was trying hard to stop her cheeks flushing any redder, they heated up further at the reminder of falling asleep on him.

"H-Hey, I'm going to change into my pyjamas; it's really hot in here..." she stuttered, getting up.

"All right." Akihiko watched her leave and decided to change into sleepwear too.

The evening was peaceful. They had no homework or chores to do, so they just relaxed and watched anime until Akari was struggling to stay awake. With all of her might, she tried to keep her eyes open but was too tired and her body gave in. Her head slumped onto his shoulder just like before. Akihiko almost jumped in shock; however, he already knew what had happened this time and turned the television off. After settling her in his bed, he pulled on a t-shirt and grabbed his trainers.

"This might become a habit..." he muttered under his breath, grabbing his keys carefully.

He left his bedroom without another sound and carefully locked the door. Of course, he realised he was locking Akari in but thought she'd be safer this way with what he planned to do; he already knew by now that if she woke up and didn't see him in the bedroom, there'd be a good possibility she'd decide she wants to find him and the consequences of that could turn out to be rather unpleasant.

Grimy brick walls covered in moss surrounded her. It was cold and smelled of damp. Akari looked around. There were no windows. In front of her there was a fairly steep slope and behind her were two large holes in the wall, much too high for her to reach. She had no choice but to venture forwards. A little while after climbing the slope, the sound of gushing water made her jump and turn around. The two holes in the wall had begun to flush. In immediate panic, she started to run up the slope as fast as she could. Her legs already ached from the incline, making her even more frightened…it felt like the path was never-ending until light shone down from somewhere in the distance, which made her determined to escape. She just managed to reach it as water was surrounding her ankles and grabbed the top of a small wall that was almost as tall as her. Scrambling to get up and over, she began to scream for help-

"I-I made it..." she said croakily. She opened her eyes to dull, green darkness and fumbled around the bedroom. After flicking the light switch, she realised this wasn't her bedroom. "W-Where am I?"

The light didn't turn on but everything came back to her soon enough. She had no idea what the time was and retrieved her phone. As she did so, her mind reminded her whose bedroom she was in. After noticing Akihiko wasn't there and not taking any attention to her phone not working, she tried the door. To her surprise, it wouldn't open. She tried again with a lot more effort, but it was no use. The green-tinged air and apparent blackout started to get to her. She quickly stepped over to the window and pulled open the curtains. Her eyes darted around the scene. The streetlamps weren't lit; instead, the almost-full moon seemed to be emitting a green glow over the city. A couple of coffins were grouped together, standing upright in the distance but what scared her most of all, however was a strangely-shaped bodiless shadow slowly crawling around.

"Oh my gosh...what are those things!" she whispered, afraid it might somehow hear her as it crept in the direction of the dorm.

Although it was still far away from the building, that didn't stop her feeling terrified. She frantically wondered where Akihiko was, but her question was soon answered when she saw him sneaking up on the shadow.

"Akihiko!" she exclaimed, watching him intently.

It was very dark out and she was far away from him, but she was positive he was now holding a gun in his right hand, aiming straight for his own head. Akari panicked like crazy. She didn't know what to do since there was no way of getting out of his bedroom or catching his attention. Her eyes stared down at him and she was frozen in terror.

"No..." she whispered, placing her hands on the window. "Don't do it..."

A faint gunshot erupted through the air, sounding as though it broke glass but there was no sign of a bullet. She wondered if he'd forgotten to load it. Either way, she was relieved. But now, in disbelief, she was unable to move as an odd, ghostly-looking figure materialised in front of him, hovering above the ground. It fiercely attacked the shadow, demolishing it in one hit. She watched it dissolve into a puff of red smoke and the ghost evaporated. Akihiko seemed satisfied and lowered the gun, making his way back towards the dorm. A little while later, she heard a key turning in the lock and her eyes darted to the door in fear...for all she knew, those things could do anything…

"You're awake!" Akihiko said in astonishment, frozen in the doorway. "And you're not-"

"What's going on?" she whispered with wide eyes, interrupting him. "Why is everything green?"

Akihiko quickly came into his room and shut the door. "I'm not sure if I'm the right person to tell you-"

"Senpai, you're the best person to tell me."

With a sigh, he walked across the floor and sat on his bed. "I don't know where exactly to begin, but to put it simply; this is what's called the 'Dark Hour'. It's basically an extra hour in the day for those who have the potential."

Akari was immediately reminded of her eavesdropping; Akihiko had asked if this 'chairman' thought she had the potential. "…The potential to do what, exactly?"

"Experience the Dark Hour without turning into a coffin and also, have the power to summon a Persona."

"Those coffins...were people!"

"'Those coffins'...? You've seen them!"


	4. Chapter 4

A quick note to say I have updated the previous chapters to correct grammar and made slight edits here and there, but nothing drastic has changed so there's no need to read through them again, unless you're as OCD as I am and want to see every little change. XD seriously though, the edits are so small you probably won't be able to notice them all.

Once again I must thank all those who have read and added my story to their favourites. I must also apologise to you all since I realise some of the characters may be out of character...but this is my take on the story, so I hope it'll all work out.

Anyway, here's chapter four~

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Four**

Akari didn't know what to say. Instead, she nodded in response to Akihiko's exclamation of surprise. She didn't tell him straight away that she'd seen coffins and creepy shadows in case she was hallucinating, like with the mysterious boy.

"Where? Have you seen anything else strange?"

"Like what?"

"There are these creatures we call Shadows. They appear just like an ordinary shadow until you get up close to one...then they turn into monsters. They prey on humans, which makes them our enemy."

It was all going over her head. "Um...I-I see…well...I saw the coffins out there just now. I did see a weird Shadow crawling around, too...then you…shot yourself and a-a…ghost killed the 'Shadow' monster."

He nodded and seemed to be studying her facial expression. "I don't expect you to believe this...but if you trust me, I can hope that one day you will."

Akari shook her head. "So...people turn into coffins at night."

"Yeah, pretty much. They 'transmogrify'. You saw my Persona too, right?"

"You mean the ghost that killed the Shadow?"

"He's not really a ghost...but maybe that's the easiest way to put it for now. You probably have one inside yourself too since you haven't transmogrified."

She stared blankly at his worried face, trying to understand and believe it all but her mind just couldn't seem to deal with it. Shaking her head again, she averted her eyes to the floor. The green tinge slowly started to fade and normal colour was being restored to the world.

"It's over for tonight," Akihiko informed her. "We can relax now."

"This feels like a dream," she stated, standing up and walking to the window. The group of coffins had changed back into people. The moon was still big, but had returned its original light to the city and there were no strange Shadows lurking about.

"You should get to bed. I'm going to have a quick shower first," he told her, taking his top off.

"W-What are you...?" she trailed off in a loss of composure, staring helplessly at him.

"I need a shower before I go to bed. Training my Persona isn't exactly a light workout."

Akari blushed at his shirtless torso and gave him a timid smile as she watched him leave. She wondered if he meant for her to go to bed in his bedroom, but thought she should probably sleep in her own bed for once anyway, especially since she now has her own key. After grabbing her things, she went to leave but the door was locked so she dumped her stuff back at the end of his bed and sat on it.

It wasn't too long before she decided to climb under the covers and curl up close to the wall. Akihiko returned a little while later, not bothering to turn on the light. He got into bed and sprawled out on his back. His movement disturbed Akari; she fidgeted and rolled over onto her other side, now facing him. He felt paralysed and didn't know what to do after realising who it was and his heart began to beat harder as a soft, warm hand touched his chest. She snuggled closely under his arm and into his body, breathing deeply. Akihiko didn't want to move her away in case it woke her up and didn't know what to do in this situation, let alone get out of it so he decided he might as well get comfy and gently cuddled her back.

That Tuesday night passed by peacefully. Akari had no nightmares and Akihiko unusually slept through his alarm; that was, until loud rapping stirred his slumber.

"This is Mitsuru," a muffled voice called. "Are you awake, Akihiko?"

"Ngh..." he murmured, fidgeting a little.

"Akihiko? It's ten to eight. Yukari and I are leaving soon."

His eyes flickered open and his mind tried to register what Mitsuru had just said. When it sunk in, he gasped and went to sit up but stopped, feeling something on his body. After realising it was Akari, he attempted to get out of bed with the smallest of movements and was about to slide her off of his chest but stopped for a moment to watch her sleep contentedly. He smiled affectionately at her peaceful face and had an immediate urge to kiss her forehead as he was reminded of the past, but time was getting on so he thought he should probably make a move; there was already no time for breakfast. Just as he was sliding himself from her embrace, Akari began to fidget. He had been trying his best not to disturb her and felt disheartened now that she seemed to be waking up.

"G-Good morning..." he stuttered, blushing as she opened her eyes. "S-Sleep well?"

"Good morning...senpai!" she greeted in surprise at Akihiko getting out of the same bed as her and felt her cheeks heat up as a result. "Um...I-I...yeah, thanks. H-How about you?"

Akari was squashed up against the wall now, sitting with the covers pulled up to her chin. She'd absentmindedly stolen the whole duvet from Akihiko, who was now sat up too, smiling sheepishly and scratching his head.

"Oh, y-yeah. I slept really well, too..." he trailed off, letting out a nervous chuckle as he stood up. "We need to hurry up and get ready for school. Mitsuru and Yukari are probably already leaving without us."

She didn't want to move from under the covers. Her cheeks showed it, too, but she forced her body to get up and gather her things. They met again in the lounge and journeyed to school together, both completely silent for most of the way but just as the train was getting into Port Island Station, Akihiko spoke.

"Hey, um...about last night..." he started quietly, almost under his breath.

Akari automatically looked at him with concern on her face. "…Last night?"

"It's obvious, but don't tell anyone what you saw."

"Oh, you mean the ghost-"

"Yeah," he interrupted, hoping she'd say no more. "Don't worry, though. I trust you."

Wednesday morning's classes went by smoothly; Akari felt invisible and didn't even speak to Yukari or the guy she remembered was called Junpei, not even during break. The class before lunch and her lunchtime break itself was just as lonely until she spotted Junpei in a corridor as she tried to find her way to Composition. She silently followed him since she didn't know the way and hoped he wouldn't notice, but it was as though he knew her plan right from the start.

"Yo, Akari," he greeted, looking over his shoulder. "Modern lit is this way. Follow me."

"Thanks..."

They entered the classroom together and she took the desk next to Junpei before anyone else could. Yukari came in with a few girls and they sat in the back row. Seats filled rapidly and once the last student came in and slid the door shut, Miss Toriumi's familiar face addressed everyone.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Miss Toriumi and I'll be teaching you Composition, or what most students call 'modern lit' these days. So, let's get started. I've given you all a textbook that we'll be following this term. Please take care of it. Now, turn to the first chapter and we'll begin...ugh, Zenzou Kasai? Why him? I'd rather teach Utsubo Kubota. Hey, Junpei! Are you listening?"

Akari looked at him, along with the rest of the class. He looked blankly at Miss Toriumi but appeared to be awake.

"Uh...sure, sensei!" he said warily.

Miss Toriumi raised an eyebrow. "Who did I just say I'd rather teach?"

"Um..." he said under his breath. "Hey, Akari! What's she talking about?"

"Utsubo Kubota," she told him.

Junpei repeated what she'd told him with hope that he'd get away with asking Akari this time. They heard students at nearby desks whispering about how nice it was of her to help him out and Miss Toriumi let him off, telling him to be grateful of having friends like Akari. When the class ended, he caught up with her as she was leaving.

"Akari," he called, jogging over to her as she stopped in her tracks and faced him. "Thanks for telling me what to say earlier."

She gave him a smile and walked out of the classroom with him. "You're welcome. Thanks for being nice to me."

He smiled. "I just wanted to say that I really wasn't trying to hit on you yesterday. I was a transfer student once, so I know how tough it is to be the new kid. I thought I would-"

"It's okay, I believe you," she assured him.

"Heh, cool. I guess what I'm trying to say is…if you ever have a problem, you can tell your old pal Junpei about it!"

"Thanks, Junpei. I'll remember that," she said, still smiling.

After their final class of the day, Junpei and Akari said goodbye to each other at the school gates and went separate ways. Neither Yukari nor Akihiko caught up with her on the way back, so she made her way back to the dorm alone. When she arrived, she didn't even bother trying the door and just sat on the steps and hugged her legs.

"Akari, is that you?" a girl called.

She looked up and saw Yukari approaching. "Hello, Yukari."

"Are you okay? Why are you just sat out here?"

"I was waiting for someone who has a key."

"What? Nobody's given you a key yet? I'll ring Mitsuru-"

"N-No, it's okay," Akari interrupted quickly, just remembering that Akihiko gave her a key last night. "I don't want to rush her."

"It's silly for you to not have one, though. I mean, you live here now..." she trailed off, letting the subject go and unlocking the door. "Aren't you coming in?"

"Nah, the weather's nice...I just want to sit here for a while."

Yukari looked confused. "Okay...I'll see you later, then."

Akari hugged her knees again and stared silently at the ground. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander. Her thoughts became daydreams about Akihiko and she idly smiled to herself.

"Akari...?"

She snapped out of her imaginary world as the star of it interrupted her. "H-Hi, Akihiko!"

He saw her blushing and chuckled. "You didn't lose your key, did you?"

"No...I forgot I had it so I waited outside for someone to come home, then Yukari got back and wondered why I was sat out here. That's when I remembered I had my own key..."

Akihiko let out another sympathetic chuckle. "Why are you sitting out here, then?"

Akari was far too embarrassed to say she was waiting for him just so she could lay her eyes on him again in the flesh, even though that was only half of the reason. She looked at his white trainers. They were brilliantly clean. Her eyes slowly worked their way up his school trousers, then to his familiar red waistcoat. She kept her stare there, not moving her head from facing towards the ground so it came across that she was looking at the floor. "I just wanted a bit of fresh air and it's nice outside. I don't know when it'll rain, so I thought I'd take advantage of the weather."

"That's true. It could rain at any time. It is springtime, after all," he said thoughtfully, sitting on the step next to her. A few birds tweeted in the soothing silence. "I noticed you slept really peacefully last night, compared to your first night here. I'm glad. Are you getting used to being here already?"

"Oh, n-not really..." she admitted, realising that she must have been so content because she felt safe sharing his bed with him.

"Well, you didn't have a nightmare. I guess that's all that matters."

This time, she let out a nervous chuckle and looked at him in from the corner of her eye. It seemed he was smiling pleasantly to himself, but suddenly his head turned to face hers and she looked up properly to meet his gaze.

"I think I understand why you slept so well."

"Y-You do?" she stuttered, absentmindedly blushing again and trying to keep herself calm enough to hold eye contact.

He wore an insightful expression now. "You were lonely, so when I got into bed your subconscious jumped at the chance to be close to me. You wanted to feel safe."

Akari's cheeks were bright red now. "U-Um..."

"It's okay. I think the reason I understand this is because I'm lonely too."

Her heart skipped a beat as she wondered where this conversation was going. "You're lonely?"

"Let's not go into it," he said, looking at his knees solemnly.

"I'm sorry, senpai."

"No, don't be. There's nothing to be sorry for and even if there was, it wouldn't be your fault."

"I'm confused..." she said slowly, frowning.

He looked at her and chuckled. "Good. Anyway, let's go inside. There's someone I need to introduce you to."

"Wait, can I ask you something first?"

"Of course you can," he said, standing up.

Akari felt even more confused as she stood up with him. "What did you mean when you said I…j-jumped at the chance to be close to you? What exactly happened last night?"

"Well…" Akihiko trailed off, unsure how to explain it. "When I got back from having a shower, I completely forgot that you were in my bed and when I got under the covers you…"

"What? What did I do?" she pestered.

"Y-You…cuddled me, in your sleep."

Her eyes immediately averted to the floor. "…O-Oh. I-I'm sorry, senpai…"

Before Akihiko could say anything back, Akari tried the door handle. She was surprised when it didn't open and Akihiko appeared close to her, reaching in front of her to unlock it. Without another word, she darted inside but froze in her tracks as she saw an older, unfamiliar man sat next to Yukari on a sofa. Both of their heads turned to the door as Akihiko shut it with Akari in full view. He then led her over to the sofas, where she timidly sat down next to him, opposite the stranger.

"Akari, I'd like you to meet Shuji Ikutsuki. He's the chairman of the board at Gekkoukan," Akihiko told her.

"Good afternoon," Shuji greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Mister Ikutsuki. It's nice to meet you," she replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

Shuji explained that he simply came here to welcome her to the school. He then told her who lived in this dorm; something she already knew. Regardless, she politely nodded and listened patiently.

"Do you have any questions?" Shuji asked. "If you do, feel free to ask away."

"Actually, there is something. Um...I was just wondering if you could tell me about the story on the news that I've heard a few rumours about. The one about random people turning into zombies..."

Yukari and Akihiko took a glance at each other as Shuji chuckled. "Oh, that one. Yes, it has been circulating the city for a little while now, hasn't it? To be honest, nobody really knows anything. Personally, I think someone is trying very hard to pull a joke on us all. It's nothing to worry about."

Akari nodded even though a part of her didn't feel satisfied with his answer, but she let it slide. After quickly checking the time on her phone, she decided it was best to find a supermarket before shops closed for the day. Yukari and Shuji were talking about the cherry blossoms whilst Akihiko was reading something on his phone.

"Hey, um...Akihiko, I'm going to the shops by the station. I need to get some food," she informed him quietly.

"Oh, I'll come with you," he said, putting his phone in his pocket as he stood up. "There's somewhere I wanted to stop by on the way home but it completely slipped my mind."

She wondered where he wanted to go and what distracted him from going there earlier, but couldn't help thinking that wasn't the main reason he said he'd go with her. They said quick goodbyes to Yukari and Shuji before leaving the dorm together.

"What time do shops close around here?" Akari asked as they started their brisk walk towards Iwatodai Station.

"It depends on the shop," Akihiko answered. "The supermarket closes at eight o'clock though so we have plenty of time."

"Oh…" she muttered, feeling silly for rushing. "I thought all of the shops would close at half past five or something, so that would have only given us an hour to get there and buy things..."

"Ah, I see. Well, like I said, we have plenty of time." She looked at him. He turned his head to look at her and gave her a cheerful smile, which she returned with a light giggle. "So...tell me something about yourself."

"Um...there's not a lot to say..."

"Sure there is. Pick anything." Akihiko watched her facial expression change from a smile to a look of depressed thoughtfulness as she turned to look at the ground. "What's your favourite animal?"

"Dogs," she answered straight away.

"I had a feeling it would be. I like dogs too."

"Really?" Akari looked up into his eyes. He nodded. "For some reason, that made me really happy."

"I can tell," he told her with a smile.

They spent the rest of the journey to the supermarket talking about dog breeds. Akihiko listened intently to her detailed knowledge about various breeds, such as the German Shepherd, Akita and Husky. When they finally reached their destination, he had to interrupt her to show her the way through the Strip Mall.

"Sorry about cutting short our conversation about dog breeds," Akihiko apologised as he grabbed a basket. Akari grabbed a basket too. "What do you need a basket for?"

"Um...I came here to get some food, remember?"

"I have a basket, we don't need two. C'mon, I'm starting to get hungry from just being surrounded by food."

Akari muttered a small thank you and walked next to him up the vegetable aisle. He grabbed a pack of fresh bean sprouts and placed them in the basket, then went to put it on the floor but Akari took it before he could and felt pleased with herself.

"Why do you look so proud?" he wondered whilst swiftly pulling a paper bag from the holder.

"N-No reason," she told him, blushing now as he put two onions in the bag.

He dropped the bag in the basket too and took it easily from her lose grip. "Is there anything in particular you want?"

She thought to herself about what she wanted to eat, but it made her look disheartened; when it came to food, Akari was a bad decision maker. She hadn't tried many different things in England, so it was difficult to think of what they might sell in Japan that she would like. She knew they ate a lot of sushi and fish, which she'd never tried in her life and the smell made her feel queasy. Different types of beans were another thing she knew they used a lot in their recipes, but that was another thing she'd never had the opportunity to sample.

"I suppose I should get some rice," she decided finally as they reached the aisle full of sauces and condiments. "Maybe I should pick up some pasta if they sell it."

"This place won't have any," a deep, young male voice said from behind them. "Hey, Aki."

Together, Akihiko and Akari turned around and saw a young boy in a maroon pea coat and a black beanie hat, barely half a centimetre taller than Akihiko. He stood there with a serious look on his face. Akari took in his chin-length choppy brown hair and matching eyes, which were staring at them as if they had just committed some sort of crime.

"Shinji, what are you doing here, of all places?"

"Is it really an unexpected place for me to be seen? Besides, I could say the same to you. This isn't exactly the place to take someone when you're on a date."

"D-Date!" Akihiko exclaimed; both he and Akari immediately turned red.

"Don't tell me it isn't true," he said, letting his lips curl to a slight smirk at their flushing cheeks. "It's obvious. Anyway, I'm not complaining. It'll be good for you to have a girl in your life."

Akihiko raised his eyebrows. "That's coming from the guy who told me girls complicate life."

"So you don't deny it..."

"It's not true," Akari blurted out courageously, even though she was looking at her shoes. "We're not on a date."

"Have it your way," the guy said, dropping the subject. "If you want pasta, I suggest the international food shop across the street. They even sell traditional trimmings for roast dinners."

Akari looked up into the stranger's eyes and stared nostalgically. "I miss those..."

His eyes darted to Akihiko's and he winked at him. Akari didn't notice since she'd already looked back down at the shiny supermarket floor and sighed to herself. Akihiko felt slightly confused and looked at the guy hopefully for a hint.

"You guys should make one this Sunday."

"That's a good idea," Akihiko agreed, picking up on the hint straight away. "We'll go to the international food shop when we're done here and get the ingredients. How does that sound, Akari?"

"Okay," she said with a smile. "That's made me hungry now."

"I'll leave you guys to it. I have somewhere I need to be."

Once he was out of earshot, Akari spoke. "Who was he?"

"A friend...but we don't keep in touch that much these days."

Akari giggled nervously as she grabbed a bag of rice, but clumsily fell to the floor in surprise and squeaked. She didn't realise it would be so heavy. "Heh...and he thought we were on a date..."

"Yeah," Akihiko said, sounding slightly peeved as he held his hand out. She tugged on it and just had the strength to pull herself up, although Akihiko was technically doing most of the work. "Can't a boy and girl go anywhere these days without being accused of dating?"

"Not in today's society."

He picked up the bag of rice from the floor and put it in the basket, then took another one off the shelf for himself. Akari still had no idea what she wanted to eat that was Japanese. Akihiko picked up a few packs of dried noodles and some jars of strange-looking cooking sauces and then they moved onto the next aisle.

"You know what," she started as he picked up a box of eggs. "I'm going to grab some onions, bean sprouts and red peppers."

"Sounds good," he commented, browsing the shelves of baking ingredients.

She turned around and went back around the corner, then began intently searching the rows of fresh vegetables. Finally she found onions. She took a bunch of spring onions, a few red onions and a bag of bean sprouts from the bottom row. "Hmm, red peppers..."

"Over here," that deep voice called out.

Akari looked up and saw the boy in the pea coat, oblivious to the red peppers in front of him and somehow found the courage to greet him. "Hi again…"

"Hey," he said, his face expressionless.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Akari gathered up the confidence to break it. "I'm Akari, by the way."

"I see..." he trailed off, moving his eyes to the baskets of peppers. "Didn't Aki introduce me?"

Akari thought he sounded a little rejected, but didn't want to admit they talked about him behind his back. "Sort of…but I asked him who you were."

He said nothing for a short while. "What kind of peppers are you after?"

"Red," she answered simply. "Not chilli, though."

"I'm not as dumb as you might think. Some guys can actually cook, you know," he told her, grabbing a couple of red peppers and putting them in a paper bag. "Here."

"T-Thanks..." she said in what was almost a whisper, taking the bag. "I'm sorry..."

The boy looked as though he was stopping himself from smirking. "See you around."

She held her shopping tightly and watched him stride quickly towards the tills before turning around and hurrying back to Akihiko in the baking aisle.

"Did I hear you talking to Shinji?"

"Oh, yes. I bumped into him around the corner. He showed me where the red peppers were."

There was silence, until they both started speaking at the same time. "I want to ask you-"

"I decided to get-"

They stopped mid-sentences and looked at each other.

"You first," Akihiko said kindly.

"Um, well I was just going to say that I decided to get spring onions as well as red onions; spring onions for a quiche or pie, and red onions for a stir fry or something."

"That sounds delicious. I can't wait to try some."

"Try some?" she repeated in surprise.

"Yeah, I mean you'd let me, right?"

"Of course, but..."

"But what?"

Akari didn't know what to say. She hadn't cooked much, so her meals might not turn out perfect, which is what she was fretting about. "I don't want them to taste bad..."

Akihiko smiled at her determination and together they wandered around the rest of the supermarket before heading to the checkout. Akari had asked him what it was he'd wanted to ask her, but he told her he'd tell her later. So they silently packed the shopping into bags, paid for it all and began the journey back home. Akihiko decided to take her to the international food shop another day since they had so much to carry.

"Hey, um..." Akari started as they were nearing the dorm. "What did you want to ask me earlier?"

"O-Oh, heh...yeah..." he stuttered nervously, coming to a halt at the steps to the dorm. "W-What I wanted to ask you was..."

Akari stood there patiently, waiting for him to finish his sentence. She noticed his face looked troubled as he stared at the ground.

"W-Would you teach me how to cook a roast dinner?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "What…? Um…okay…"

His face looked up to hers in surprise. "Really? U-Um, thank you."

She smiled happily. He grinned back and she followed him into the dorm. They headed straight to the kitchenette and made some rice balls with tuna, mayonnaise and sweetcorn to share. After cooking them, they ate with Mitsuru and Yukari at the dining table, discussing school and the recent news events. This only made her more suspicious about the zombie stories, mostly because of their extremely high levels of interest in them. The subject of their cooking lesson wasn't brought up at all, but she was grateful about that because she didn't want people to know in case it went horribly wrong.

"Are you up for practicing tonight?" Akihiko asked as he started to clear up their dishes.

"Okay," she agreed, reaching out to grab her plate. "What will we do today?"

His hand had reached out too, stopping her from picking it up. "The same as before."

She remembered now that Akihiko had said they were going to practise warming up before they started to get into any actual strength training. Once they- or Akihiko, since he still refused to let her help, had finished cleaning up from dinner, they changed and headed to Akihiko's bedroom to practise. Nearing the end of their so-called workout, a question itched to be asked. She'd held it back for most of the time, but by the end of the session as they were heading to have showers, it was too much to hold in any longer.

"Can I ask you something?" she blurted out as they stopped outside the bathrooms.

"Of course."

She swallowed hard, finding the courage to enquire about the vexation that was on her mind. "I...overheard you guys talking last night."

Akihiko looked around the lounge and lowered his voice. "What exactly did you hear?"

"What you guys are planning to do tonight."

"Oh...that," he muttered. "Don't worry, it's not bad. Mister Ikutsuki just wants to monitor you in case you have the potential; although you and I both know you probably do."

"Monitor me how?" she questioned suspiciously.

"He wants you to share my room so I can see if you turn into a coffin. Conveniently enough, we both already know you don't."

"So what does that mean?"

"You sleep in my room again tonight. Then, tomorrow morning I'll tell everyone."

She felt slightly confused, but nodded. "All right. Um...can I ask you something else?"

He chuckled. "Of course you can; you don't need to ask me every time."

"Okay...well...when I said I was going to the shops earlier, you said you wanted to come because there was somewhere you wanted to go and you'd forgotten to go on the way back from school, but we only went to the supermarket."

"Oh! I wanted to go with you to the sports shop, but I forgot again...let's meet at the school gates tomorrow and we'll walk home together. We can stop by the international food shop as well."

"Okay," she agreed with a smile.

That Wednesday evening was spent in the lounge with everyone, getting to know them better. Akari learned a few things about each one of her new friends, as well: Yukari was part of the school's archery team and Mitsuru was a member of the school's fencing club, alongside the student council.

Akari was so tired. She wanted to go to bed but since she had to sleep in Akihiko's bedroom, she felt rude asking to go to bed before him. Her elbow rested on the sofa arm, with her cheek resting in her palm. Every now and then, her head would slip as she dozed for a second, but she awoke instantly each time and her eyes darted around nervously to see if anyone had noticed.

It seemed as though this time Akihiko had detected her extreme tiredness; he picked her up as gently as he could and quietly bid Mitsuru and Yukari goodnight. Yukari giggled softly and waved, whispering goodnight back to him. Mitsuru simply smiled fondly and gave a small nod.

Amongst the pitch black, a blue glow emerged in the distance. It grew brighter and began to enlarge, as if it was sucking her towards it. Akari felt her stomach get left behind and the light got even closer, until a purple-blue door appeared in it. It opened, and from what she could tell, a tall, white-haired young man in uniform and a cap had opened it, beckoning her inside with a curious smile but she seemed to whoosh past him so fast that it could have been anything.

"Good evening," a croaky old voice with an accent greeted her gleefully. "I am Igor...and I kindly welcome you to the Velvet Room."

"Velvet...Room...?" Akari muttered, almost under her breath. A relaxing, yet powerful piece of piano music was playing in the background; she also noticed the room seemed to be an elevated floor and everything in it was a different shade of purple-blue. She felt the soft carpet under her feet, realising she was now shoeless. The wall straight ahead of her was hardly a wall; instead it was more of an elegant iron fence, beyond which she could only see blurs.

"Only those who have signed the contract may enter here...and you did so on the night you arrived here. I simply wish for you to abide by it and take responsibility of your actions."

She felt too confused to try and remember things, but Igor's words somehow jogged her memory instantly. Her eyes merely stared at his big pupils as she struggled to take in everything he was saying.

"You will require my help to hone your unique ability."

"Ability...?" she wondered aloud.

"Soon enough, you will find out what form it takes..." Igor trailed off, smiling knowingly.

"Is this...a dream?"

"Precisely...you are fast asleep in the real world as we speak. Although in time you will visit of your own accord, which is why I wanted to give you this-" he cut off, pulling an old, large key from his jacket pocket.

It was only then that she noticed Igor's appearance; he wore a smart, black tuxedo and was almost bald. His white hair covered half of his head and he had an extremely long, curved nose. He was also sat in a comfy, luxurious looking armchair. In front of him was a large, round table covered in a silky tablecloth that matched the walls of the room; both were a few shades lighter than the carpet.

Igor laid the key carefully on the table without taking his eyes off of her. "Take this key. You will then be free to come back whenever you wish. Oh, and before I forget...there is one resident of this room that I must introduce you to. Unfortunately he cannot be here today to welcome you, but I will make sure that next time you stop by, you are properly introduced."

"Next time...?" she wondered in surprise. "But...you said...this is a dream..."

"I believe you already know that all of your questions will be answered in due course. Patience is the key..."

Akari knew she wasn't a particularly patient person and when she was curious it was very hard to contain herself. However, the piano was fading out, as was her surroundings and she found it almost impossible to speak. "Igor-"

"Hush now, Akari. It seems as though it is already time to say our goodbyes...so, farewell...until we meet again..."

Someone shook her vigorously. She scrunched her eyes up, even though they were closed; she felt very nauseous and the shaking made it a lot worse. "S-Stop...please..."

"Good morning," Akihiko's voice greeted her as she felt the bed spring up. "I'm sorry I woke you, but we really need to get going. It's quarter to eight, so there's only just time for a really quick breakfast."

"Oh, I think I'll pass on breakfast today-" Akari muttered, watching Akihiko gather his school things.

"No, Akari. You have to eat. I'll leave you to change and wait downstairs."

She thought he sounded very business-like and watched him leave, wondering if he was in a bit of a bad mood this morning. Regardless, she forced herself out of bed and quickly changed. When she reached the dining area, Mitsuru and Yukari were sat at the table in silence. One was reading, the other was busy texting friends and Akihiko was nowhere to be seen.

"Akihiko already left for school," Mitsuru informed Akari from behind her book.

This news made Akari feel even worse. Not only did he wake her up and seem like he was in a bad mood, he said he would wait for her downstairs and then left for school without her. Her heart sank and she felt quite dejected, even though she tried to convince herself she'd done nothing wrong. She felt as though it was her fault that Akihiko was acting strangely.

"He said to tell you that he still plans to meet you after school though," Yukari said, looking up from her phone and giving Akari a reassuring smile.

She smiled back as a whoosh of relief waved over her. Worry still filled her mind, but she gave a nod, thanked them and said goodbye, rushing out of the dorm before they could stop her.

Iwatodai Station was as busy as usual in the early morning, full of chatting students making their way to Gekkoukan and people commuting to work. Akari took a deep breath and boarded the waiting train. She found a seat next to a businesswoman near the end of the carriage, hoping that she would blend into the background if Mitsuru and Yukari caught up with her.

Her head thumped with the movement of the train. The gentle swaying made her feel a lot queasier than when she woke up and brought upon her some images from her dream last night. She felt as though she had been in a constantly ascending elevator for a very long time, which made her remember every little detail of her dream…

Akari didn't know what came over her in Classic Literature. She fell asleep the moment Mister Ekoda started talking. Apparently Junpei had tried to wake her up multiple times, but she was in such a deep sleep that she wouldn't wake up until there was all the commotion of class ending. She felt fully refreshed afterwards, though and managed to stay awake easily for the rest of the day. Her mind wandered to Akihiko when she wasn't concentrating on a lesson, however and she wondered if he was avoiding her at school today since she hadn't seen him at all. That theory was then contradicted by the idea that if he was, she would have seen him trying to avoid her to prove her assumption. This idea was then doubted by the fact that Gekkoukan was a large school, so that made it harder to spot him amongst the crowds of students...

"Akari," a voice called over the chattering students leaving school. She was just walking through the gates, staring at her shoes. "Akari! Over here!"

Her head whipped up this time, looking for him. "Aki-"

He motioned for her to shush, but beckoned her to come over at the same time. A few students were curious, but their gazes only lasted until they were too far down the street and had turned away.

"I'm sorry, senpai," she apologised quietly, realising she might have attracted his fan club.

"It's all right," he said, trying to give her a small smile. "Let's get going."

She followed him silently down the path; neither of them spoke for a while. Even the train journey was silent, apart from everyone around them talking amongst themselves.

"S-Senpai-"

"I'm-" Akihiko started at the same time as her. "You first."

"Um..." she muttered, coming to a standstill outside the sports shop. "H-Have I...I mean...have I done something wrong?"

"What!" Akihiko exclaimed preposterously at the idea. "Don't be silly, Akari. What made you think that?"

She nervously chuckled. "H-Heh...oh, I don't know...you just didn't seem to be in a good mood today..."

"Oh, well...it's just something someone said to me...I'm sorry. Please forget about it...haha...what's the point asking you to forget about it if I can't?" he said, sighing. "Forgive me. I'll try my best to cheer up, although that shouldn't be too hard now that you're here. At least I'll have a little distraction from my thoughts."

Akari blushed as Akihiko walked into the shop and followed him, but stopped at the door and remembered what happened last time. "Akihiko?"

"Mhm?" he responded, poking his head by the door. He noticed her flushing face again and his expression became worried. "Oh no, are you sick?"

"N-No, I was just-" she stuttered, realising she must still be blushing from what he'd said about her company. "Um, I was wondering if maybe we should just use our gym clothes..."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course. I mean...there's not really much point when you think about it, is there?"

"I-I guess not..." he agreed thoughtfully as he came out of the shop, blushing slightly whilst scratching his head. "I just wondered if maybe you wanted some specialised outfits, like for jogging or...yoga..."

Akari thought he sounded really hopeful for some reason. She tried not to think anything of it though and immediately shrugged the thought of him being attracted to her in any way by convincing him to show her the way to the international food shop. However, on the way, she pondered about the possibility of him being attracted to her but came to the conclusion that since she'd never had a boyfriend, no guys had flirted with her seriously before and both of them were just tense in the presence of the opposite sex, it wasn't possible.

"We're here," Akihiko announced, stopping in his tracks outside a shop with a colourful display.

"Ahh!" she squealed, bumping into his side.

He caught her in shock and held her tight. "Are you okay!"

She looked up into his eyes and felt her cheeks heating up again. "Y-Yeah..."

Akihiko relaxed, and Akari could feel it in his grip on her because it loosened and he dropped his arms back down to his side. She smiled nervously and moved her stare to the floor as she followed him inside the shop, but her eyes were immediately drawn back up to the array of food she recognised from England. She let out a squeal of excitement; after realising this, she gave him an embarrassed smile and felt her temperature rising even further.

Akihiko said he'd grab a basket whilst she finds the aisle of English food. It didn't take her long. Soon she'd spotted rows of sweets she recognised, such as a range of Cadbury chocolate, various flavours of traditional toffee and even an assorted pick and mix...when she turned around, the shelves were lined with baking ingredients like suet, flour, baking powder...next to those there was a larger chilled and frozen section. Inside the fridges and freezers were Yorkshire puddings, cod, haddock, sausages, bacon, clotted cream and lots of varieties of cheese.

"Akari?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed, snapping out of what appeared to be a daydream. "S-Sorry!"

Akihiko simply smiled. "So, what are we getting?"

"Well..." she began, browsing the shelves. "I-I...had an idea..."

"What's your idea?" Akihiko wondered curiously.

"Um...I don't think it's a good idea, though..."

"Just tell me already," he pestered, looking through the range of sausages.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you for reading my story! ^~^ I've recently had ideas pop into my head for three whole new fanfics (a sequel to this one, a crossover between P3P/P4 and a Hetalia fanfic!). I have to make sure I finish this one before I start any others though! It shouldn't be too hard since Persona 3 Portable is so awesome! ;D

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Five**

Akari thought about how to phrase her idea. "O-Okay...well, I thought that since I'm teaching you how to make a roast dinner, it's more difficult to cook for just one or two people so maybe we could cook it for everyone at the dorm one night this weekend..." she trailed off, playing with her fingers and decided to take a look at Akihiko to see his reaction.

Akihiko looked like a statue whilst holding a pack of venison and red wine sausages, looking at her with raised eyebrows. "Are you serious?"

She stared at his surprised reaction for another second before shying away to stare at the ground. "Yes..."

Akihiko blinked once and looked impressed. "You want me to call Mitsuru and ask?"

Akari swallowed nervously and nodded, wondering where her sudden courage came from, although she had her reasons for wanting to do it. She wondered why his conversation with Mitsuru was longer than five minutes, just to ask if she was fine with them cooking a roast dinner on Sunday. It turned out she was okay with it; though this made Akari on edge for the rest of the evening.

"I fell asleep in class today..." Akari told Akihiko quietly as they queued at the checkout.

"Really?" Akihiko didn't sound the least bit surprised.

"Yes, Junpei said he even tried waking me but I wouldn't wake up until there was all the noise of people leaving the class..."

"Junpei? Who's he?" Akihiko tried to come across as casual as he could, but sounded as though he was interrogating her.

"Oh, he's just a guy in my class. We seem to get on okay, but we've only spoken a couple of times."

"I see."

"Is something wrong? Is he a bad person?"

"What? No! Nothing's wrong. I don't even know this Junpei. I just want you to be careful, okay?"

"…Around Junpei?"

"Well..." he trailed off as the clerk finished scanning their items. He paid, grabbed their bags and Akari followed him out of the shop. "Look, I wasn't saying you should be careful around Junpei specifically, it's just...how do I put this...? There are dangerous people about these days and not everyone is exactly what they seem."

"Okay...I understand."

When they got back to the dorm, Mitsuru and Yukari weren't in the lounge. They assumed the two girls were in their bedrooms. Silently they put their shopping away, until Akari spoke again.

"Akihiko...you remember me mentioning that I fell asleep in class?"

"Yeah," he responded, examining the box of Yorkshire puddings.

"Well...the reason I brought it up was because that's never happened to me before, it's so unlike me."

"I wouldn't worry about it," he reassured her. "Given the circumstances, I think you're entitled to have a lack of energy."

"Well I know there's the time difference to get used to, but...when I woke up today, I felt as though I hadn't slept at all, like I had no energy-" she cut off, suddenly half retching.

"Akari...?"

She didn't have time to answer. Instead, she dashed off to the bathroom and lifted up the toilet seat, falling to her knees and bending over. This time she fully retched, but nothing came out.

"Are you okay in there?" Akihiko's voice called from outside the door.

Akari tried to say she was fine, but no words came out. It just sounded like she was finding it hard to breathe.

"Do you want me to leave you alone for a while?"

"N-No..." she managed to force out, feeling herself shivering now. "I don't…feel so good..."

"What's the matter? Did you throw up?"

"Not exactly...I just k-keep-" she cut off to retch again. "H-Heaving..."

"Why don't you come out and lay on the sofa? I'll get you a glass of cold water."

She heard him walking away and took a deep breath, attempting to get to her feet. It was easier than she expected, although she was still shivering. Slowly, she left the bathroom and made her way to the sofa as Akihiko suggested. As soon as she sat down, he was standing beside her with a glass of water in his hand.

"Here, drink this. Water usually helps me when I feel sick."

With a trembling hand, she took the glass and sipped the water gratefully. "Thank you, it helps me when I feel sick too."

He gave her a small smile and sat next to her. Suddenly she gasped as she felt his hand on her forehead, checking her temperature. "You're a little warm."

"Oh, I hope I'm not ill..."

"Me too. Don't worry though, I'll take care of you if you are," he assured her.

Her cheeks flushed and her heart skipped a beat. She took a sip of water to try and hide it. "T-Thank you s-senpai...you're so nice..."

Akihiko felt himself blushing slightly too. "Heh...it's nothing. Hey, um...do you feel up for dinner?"

At first the thought of food made her feel worse, but then her stomach started to hurt. She agreed to eat dinner, but told him to give her a smaller meal. However, Akihiko made a normal sized meal for both of them since he had a gut feeling that she'd eat it all once she'd smelled it cooking.

"You didn't have any breakfast or lunch today, did you?" Akihiko asked as he dried up the last bowl.

"No..." she admitted sheepishly.

He sighed quietly and hung the tea towel on its rail to dry. "You worry me."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. I'll make sure that you eat properly from now on. Hmm...how do you feel about practising a bit of defence tonight?"

"Okay, I'll give it a go."

They changed in their respective bathrooms, after which Akari lingered patiently outside Akihiko's bedroom door. After five minutes, she decided to knock but there was no answer. Hesitantly, she opened his door and peeked inside.

"Akihiko...?"

The light was on, but he was nowhere to be seen. She felt a little creeped out, but assured herself that he must be around somewhere. Her mind, however, decided to play tricks on her as she remembered the night Akihiko defeated a Shadow and she jumped as she saw something move in the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around to look behind her, but nothing was there so she called out his name again and waited a few seconds. When she got no reply, her fear increased and she decided to lock herself in his bedroom in angst of the Shadows.

Suddenly the door handle moved, making Akari jump and freeze in terror. It moved vigorously as someone was desperate to gain entry, but the door wouldn't budge.

"What the...!" a voice muttered in panic. "I didn't lock my door!"

"Oh!" Akari whispered, rushing over to unlock it. "I'm so sorry, senpai!"

"A-Akari...? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry I didn't see you around so I got worried about those Shadow monsters and locked myself in-"

"Shadows...? Did you see one!"

"No I just got worried because we planned to meet here in a couple of minutes and you never answered when I called you-"

"Slow down, it's okay," he said gently, noticing her wide eyes full of fear as he took her shoulders and eased her back into his bedroom. After he closed the door, he continued. "I was talking to Mitsuru, she called me upstairs. I'm sorry I was longer than I meant to be, but I'm here now and we're safe."

"Ngh..." she muttered. "I feel ill..."

He took her over to his bed and sat her down. "What's wrong?"

"I-I feel sick...a-and my head hurts...my energy is almost nonexistent...but I was fine after I fell asleep in Classic Literature, now I suddenly feel awful again..."

"Maybe you should have an early night. Do you want me to get you some more water?"

"Oh, yes please...actually, wait!"

Akihiko froze on the spot as he was about to open the door and turned around, waiting as requested. "What is it?"

"U-Um...actually, never mind, h-heh..." Akari wondered where she got the courage from to call him back.

"Don't worry, there aren't any Shadows outside of the Dark Hour so don't panic and lock me out this time, okay? I'll be as quick as I can."

She was surprised he'd read her mind like before but shrugged it off. By the time he returned, Akari had collapsed on his bed and appeared to be in a deep sleep. He was afraid to wake her, but remembered how hard she is to wake and lifted her legs up onto the bed. She stirred slightly, but only to get comfy. Akihiko grabbed a blanket and covered her with it, making sure she looked snug before relaxing at his desk.

"The...elevator..."

"Elevator?" Akihiko wondered curiously, looking up from his book, but Akari was fast asleep so he assumed she was muttering nonsense in her dreams and continued reading.

"Aki...hiko?"

"I'm here," he responded, glancing at the clock. It was almost midnight. "You're safe. I'll make sure of that..."

Akihiko felt restless and couldn't concentrate on his book, so he decided to grab his trainers and immediately felt a whoosh of déjà vu, remembering the last night he'd trained; Akari was fast asleep, but woke up just before he got back to the dorm, thus discovering the Dark Hour and saw him summon his Persona to defeat a Shadow. A part of him wanted to wake Akari up and take her outside to practise with him so he could protect her whilst they unearthed her Persona together...but he thought it probably wasn't the best idea and her Persona would shine when its time comes.

A sudden banging on the door accompanied by someone yelling her name woke Akari up with a start. Her vision was blurred as she sat up, covered in the strange green glow of the Dark Hour. Her heart thudded in her chest as she pulled the blanket away and rushed to the door.

"Akari, are you in there!" Yukari's voice called.

She grasped the door handle and pulled it open. "What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain! Mitsuru told me to give you this-" Yukari cut off, handing Akari a long, thin weapon.

"What is that?" Akari wondered as it was thrust into her hands.

"It's a naginata, you might need it. Come on, we have to escape out the back!"

Yukari practically ran down the corridor and Akari tried her best to keep up. When they got to the lounge, Akihiko was sat on the floor, leaning against the door and looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"Akihiko-senpai!" Akari exclaimed, wanting to hurry over to him but she blushed after realising she yelled out his name and gripped the naginata tightly instead. "W-What happened!"

"We don't have time to explain, I'm afraid," Mitsuru's urgent voice told her. Akari turned to look at her. "Yukari, you know what to do. Akihiko and I will-"

"No! Can't you see he's injured! He needs to rest!" Akari blurted out.

"Yukari, please," Mitsuru urged. "The chairman is on his way. I'll keep you informed."

"Okay. This way, Akari-"

A loud smashing sound made everyone jump and look in the direction of the source. A large Shadow had broken in, crawling towards the group. Mitsuru stood in front of Akihiko, since it was aiming for him as the nearest and most vulnerable target and pulled a gun from her belt. She pointed it to her head, just like Akihiko had done but before she could pull the trigger the Shadow split into two smaller ones and lunged at her, knocking her to the floor.

"Mitsuru-senpai!" Akari screamed, about to run over but Yukari pulled her back.

"Don't be stupid, we have to get out of here!" Yukari yelled, staring at Mitsuru's unconscious body.

"Ngh..." Akihiko groaned, forcing himself to get up. "What are you waiting for, Akari? Go!"

"Senpai...!"

Yukari dragged Akari across the lounge and eventually got her up the first flight of stairs. "Don't worry about Akihiko-senpai. He can take care of himself."

"But he's injured!" Akari repeated, stopping halfway up the second staircase and facing Yukari. "We should help him-"

"He'll take care of himself, we just need to focus on getting to the roof, okay?"

A pang of guilt surged through her as she nodded in agreement and continued up the stairs. Her mind started to make her feel even guiltier since Akihiko had helped her out so much over the past few days and she felt she owed him greatly, so when they reached the top of the staircase, Yukari unlocked a door and Akari took this opportunity to run back down the stairs as fast as she could.

"Akihiko-senpai!" she yelled, jumping the last two steps. She turned around to check if Yukari was behind her and after presuming she'd gone out through the door to safety she scanned the area for Akihiko. "Akihiko-senpai!"

"A...Akari..." a weak voice called from the lounge.

Akari rushed to where the voice came from and found Akihiko scrunched up on the floor, clutching his chest. She bent down close to him and dropped the naginata, beginning to panic. "Are you okay? Wait, of course you're not, that's a stupid question...what's wrong? Where does it hurt? Do you need an ambulance? What about-"

"Calm down...I'll be okay..."

"Senpai, I can't leave you like this!"

For a moment they simply stared at each other, but Akihiko quickly decided to try and get up as though to prove he was fine. He groaned as he attempted to move; Akari assumed he had clearly broken something. After coming to this conclusion, she wasn't going to take no for an answer and pulled her phone from her pocket but realised she didn't know the emergency number in Japan.

"What's the emergency number for Japan?" she asked, hoping he'd give in and tell her.

"One-one-nine," he said with a sigh.

"Thank you," she said, feeling relived as she tried to dial the number but her phone appeared to have broken. "My phone's not working!"

"That's because…of the Dark Hour..."

"What do you mean?"

"You should…make sure…Yukari's okay."

"What about you and Mitsuru? She's still unconscious-"

"I'll be okay…Mitsuru will be too…she just needs time…to recuperate…from being knocked out...there's no other… damage."

"How do you know?"

"Just go…check on Yukari…please?"

"I-I…"

"You…?"

"I'm scared, senpai…"

"It's okay…the Dark Hour will…end soon…go check on Yukari…tell her it's safe now…we'll wait together here…until it's over…then we can…call an ambulance for…Mitsuru…if she's not…awake."

"And for you," Akari reminded him, standing up.

"Don't forget…the naginata."

"Oh, yes…but I don't think I have the courage to use it."

"If you saw…a Shadow…coming at you…trust me…you'd use it."

Akari swallowed nervously and nodded. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Be careful."

"I will, I promise."

On the roof of the dorm, Yukari was hesitating with a gun pointed to her head. Akari was about to hurry over to her but spotted a large black blob with many arms each holding swords slowly crawling closer to Yukari so she kept as quiet as possible in the darkness of the doorway, watching helplessly…

"I can do this…" Yukari muttered as the Shadow crept even closer.

"Yukari, watch out!" Akari yelled, stepping outside as the Shadow dived towards Yukari, who screamed as it hit her to the floor unconscious, just like Mitsuru. "Oh my gosh! Yukari!"

It was Akari's turn to scream as the Shadow decided to pursue her now, but nothing came out of her mouth; her jaw simply dropped and her eyes became wide. Her first instinct was to run away, but something changed her mind…the gun Yukari used seemed to emit a blue glow as if it was telling her to take it…

She strode over to the gun and picked it up, feeling a little hypnotised. Without any more thoughts, she aimed it at her head as if it came naturally and closed her eyes. It took her less than a second to pull the trigger, which created a cool, powerful sensation throughout her body. She felt as though nothing could defeat her; the Shadow that knocked Yukari out was right in front of her, ready to attack but a ghost-like being emerged from her soul, glowing brightly under the unusually large full moon. Akari's eyes were still wide, but now in shock rather than fear. She felt her heart beating hard and fast, full of adrenaline. The ghost-like being let out a satisfied cry then attacked the Shadow. Akari watched and took in the being's details. It was surrounded by a cloak of coffins and held a long, thin sword. She swore that wasn't how it looked just a second ago and frowned, watching it tear apart the many-armed Shadow. It was only then that it dawned on her that this must be her Persona.

Her Persona devoured the last piece of the many-armed Shadow and let out another cry of satisfaction. Akari blinked and the next thing she knew, it had turned back into the form she'd first seen. It looked rather mechanical, like a robot and held a harp in its left arm.

Suddenly, Akari held her forehead in her palm and gripped the gun, falling to her knees. Somewhere nearby, a voice called her name but it was so faint, she didn't really acknowledge it and began to feel her energy depleting…

"Akari!" they yelled again.

She wondered if they were beside her now, as their voice was so close. When she opened her eyes, her sight was blurred. A figure was bent over her; she didn't remember how she ended up lying on the floor. She made out a vague impression of silvery hair and a red waistcoat…

"Senpai…?"

"Yeah, it's me," he confirmed.

"Ngh…" she muttered as her hand fell limp and the gun slipped out of her grasp.

"No, Akari! Stay with me!" he begged, holding her up.

"Akihiko! Be careful, you're hurt!" came Shuji's voice.

The rest of their conversation came in and out of focus as she drifted into unconsciousness. The next thing she knew, she was being sucked towards a strangely familiar purple-blue door; somehow she felt déjà vu as a white-haired young man in uniform was smiling and holding the door open. It felt as though she was being sucked in slower than last time, since she was able to take in the doorman's appearance a little more. He wore a suit that matched the room, but the one thing that stood out was his calming, friendly smile…as if he knew her, or expected her…

"Welcome once again to the Velvet Room," Igor's croaky voice greeted with a huge grin. Akari noticed he was sat in his luxurious armchair as he spoke. "I see you have awakened to your power."

"My power…? You mean-"

"Yes, your Persona. You obtained Orpheus in your battle just now when you summoned it to assist you in defeating the Shadow that preyed upon you and your friends."

"My friends…? But-"

"The Shadow wanted to destroy your friends in order to get to you and it nearly succeeded; if it had killed them, it would have been able to destroy you, too. However, since they were simply unconscious, you were able to keep the correct mindset in order to discover your ability."

Akari didn't know what to say. She understood, but was bewildered by everything that had happened. "Is this…another dream?"

"Yes. Although this time, you are unconscious due to severe exhaustion…awakening to your power drained you of energy. So, do not fear. You are not dead."

This didn't reassure her, however. She already thought she was going crazy; these so called 'dreams' of this room and its residents…Shadows…Personae…how much more would it take to make her go completely insane and end up in a mental institution?

"Our time is limited," Igor informed her, interrupting her thoughts. "So, I will explain to you what my role is…I am here to help you create Personae by fusing them together after you obtain them through various battles that you take part in. As you and your friendship bonds grow stronger, so will your Personae. In turn, you will be able to obtain and fuse even more powerful Personae. Now, you have a rare ability to hold multiple Personae and switch between them during battle…"

She listened patiently to his explanation. When he was done, she was silent as she let everything sink in. Once she'd gone over it all in her head, she asked Igor something she recalled he told her about last time. "Last time you mentioned another resident of this room and said that you would make sure you introduced us."

"Ah, my apologies…he is once again absent…but when you come here of your own accord, I assure you he will be here. Now, time marches on in your world; it is once again time for us to bid farewell…until we meet again…"

Akari half-opened her heavy eyelids to a blurry sight. A white ceiling was all she could see. She blinked a few more times and looked to her left. A bedside cabinet was next to the bed she was lying in, full of cards and a vase of vibrant flowers. Turning to her right, she saw a young boy wearing a school uniform fast asleep in an armchair. She wondered who he was; as she pondered this, she began to contemplate how she ended up in hospital.

She sat herself up and felt a little whoosh of headrush. Once it had settled, she reached out to the table to grab one of the cards, but it was just an inch out of reach; she stretched and tried to grab it. It was slightly painful and she wondered why it hurt. This seemed to distract her, however as she collapsed back onto the bed, knocking the vase of flowers over, which created a domino effect as it took the cards with it to the floor.

The sound of the plastic vase hitting the hard, linoleum floor woke the young boy up. He looked startled and gasped when his eyes saw Akari. "You're awake! Thank goodness…"

"Sorry, but…who are you?"

"This again…? Don't tell me you have amnesia…"

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologise for that!"

She swallowed nervously, afraid to apologise for apologising.

"I'm so relieved that you're finally awake."

She was still confused. "What's your name?"

"Do you remember yours?"

Akari frowned and stared at her crisp white bed sheets. Her mind went blank for a moment as she tried to remember. Failing to recall her name, her thoughts wandered to a dream that felt recent yet distant. "No…but I keep getting this recurring dream…"

"About an elevator?"

"How do you know!"

"Just a guess. I heard you talking in your sleep one night and you mentioned an elevator."

"W-What else did I say?" she stuttered.

"Nothing."

"'N-Nothing'…? What do you mean, 'nothing'!"

"I mean, you said nothing else."

For a few seconds they just stared at each other silently. Akari eventually got too embarrassed and moved her stare to her bedside cabinet. "Oh, the flowers and cards…"

"No, don't move! I'll get them. You need to save your energy," he rushed, hurrying to the other side of her bed and lifting the bedrail back up. He picked up the cards and laid them on her lap.

"O-Oh, thank you…um, who are the flowers from? They're really pretty," she asked as she took a card.

"Um…I-I picked them out for you…but they're from everyone at the dorm, too…" he told her with blushing cheeks.

"Really? Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like them…I-I've never had to pick out flowers for someone before. Are tulips your favourite?"

"I don't have a favourite flower. As long as they're colourful or pretty I appreciate them all the same," she informed him, giving him a smile before reading the card in her hand. The front of it had a beautiful array of different coloured azalea covered in a light sprinkle of glitter.

_Akari,_

_I hope you wake up soon! Everyone is so worried about you. You haven't missed much at school, only Mitsuru-senpai getting elected for Student Council president. I'll help you catch up with classes when you're back though, so don't worry about that._

_ Anyway, get well soon – although that's probably not the right phrase, since the doctors said you were just exhausted. Take it easy, Akari._

_ Yukari_

"Oh, that's nice," Akari commented after she'd finished reading it. "I wish I could remember who Yukari is…and Mitsuru…"

"They're your housemates."

"I-I see…"

"It's all right, it'll all come back to you soon," he told her. "Anyway, I should tell them that you're awake."

"You're going?"

He looked at her expression. She looked sad and he felt as though she was giving him puppy-dog eyes. "I'm sorry, visiting hours are over soon anyway."

"O-Oh, okay…"

"Don't be sad. I'll come and see you tomorrow. They'll probably let you go home then, too."

"I hope so…"

"See you later, Akari."

"Akari…?" she repeated quietly, wondering why his voice sounded familiar all of a sudden. "I know your voice…"

When she looked at him, he was smiling knowingly. "Does Akihiko ring any bells?"

After a moment of silence, Akari gasped and covered her mouth. "Senpai!"

"I understand your memory might not be back completely yet, but we had an agreement about calling me senpai."

"Oh that's right, y-yes we did! I'm sorry!"

"It's all right. Bear in mind that this will be the only time I'll forgive you though."

The door to Akari's room slid open to reveal a doctor in a white coat. He looked very young and had short, jet-black hair. He strode over to the bed and took a clipboard from its holder.

"I was just leaving," Akihiko informed the doctor, expecting to be asked to leave.

"Oh, you don't have to leave so soon," the doctor told him, scribbling something on the clipboard.

"But it's past visiting hours."

"This is true; however, Miss Rose needs an escort home."

"Oh, that's great news!" Akihiko exclaimed. "I'll get her out of here as soon as she's ready. Thank you, doctor."

"No problem. Take it easy for a couple more days, Miss Rose. You're not to do anything strenuous until Wednesday at the earliest, all right? You haven't quite gotten your strength back yet. Don't get me wrong; you're awake now and healthy, you just need to eat some proper meals and a get few early nights and you'll be full of energy again in no time."

Akihiko chuckled. "That was a bit of a difficulty to begin with."

"Do you suffer from anorexia, Miss Rose?"

"No, I just have a small stomach…"

"I see. Well, I want you to try and eat a little bit more than you normally would each morning, okay? Breakfast is the most important meal. Perhaps to start with, you could eat a banana as well as what you would normally have."

The thought of bananas made her feel sick. "I don't think I can eat bananas…"

"They're full of goodness so you should at least try, okay? You're probably sick because you're so hungry. Sometimes when people get to the point of being too hungry, they go past the hunger and it turns to nausea. Therefore, when they throw up, they don't bring anything up."

"That's what happened the night she passed out. She suddenly felt ill and heaved a lot, but she never actually threw up."

The doctor and Akihiko glanced at each other with worried expressions before turning to face Akari who swallowed nervously and felt as though she'd done something terribly wrong.

The doctor looked anxious. "I'd like to talk to you, Akihiko, was it?"

"Yeah, that's correct."

"I'd like to have a word with you in a moment, if that's all right with you."

"All right."

The doctor finished scribbling notes on the clipboard. "Thank you for being a good patient, Miss Rose. I wish you well. Hopefully we won't meet again."

"I'll be back in a few minutes," Akihiko added to Akari. "You should get dressed and gather your things."

Akari nodded and watched him follow the doctor out of her room. She slid out of bed and noticed she was wearing her panda pyjamas. With great haste, she pulled them off, ignoring her sudden light-headedness and bent down to check the bedside cabinet for clothes. She found a pair of skinny jeans and a green t-shirt with a cute squirrel on it. In the drawer, she found some clean underwear. It was her favourite silky set; they were pearl pink and had a few strawberries dotted on them. After she quickly put them on, she bashfully wondered who brought them to the hospital.

Suddenly the door slid open; Akari gasped and turned around, seeing Akihiko and felt her cheeks burning brightly. "A-Akihiko-"

Akihiko was as still as a statue, staring with wide eyes. He blushed furiously too and couldn't get any words out. "A-Akari…! I'm sorry!"

Akari didn't get the chance to reply because with the blink of an eye he had disappeared. She began to tremble as she tried to gather herself together, muttering made-up curses under her breath.

A sudden knock on the door made her jump as she fastened the button on her jeans. "Just a second…"

"I-It's me, are you…decent…?" Akihiko asked warily.

"Yes…" was all she could manage to say as she pulled her t-shirt on.

He entered the room and his face was still as bright red as Akari's. Without saying a word and avoiding her eyes, he took her bag of belongings and cleared his throat. "A-Are you ready?"

She simply nodded. He didn't see this, so he turned his head around and looked directly into her eyes. She stared back in shock and wondered if this was why she was able to hold his gaze for so long.

"Are you ready?" he repeated.

"Y-Yes…um…why don't you let me take my bag…?"

"It's all right. C'mon, let's go. We'll surprise everyone back at the dorm."

Akari discovered Tatsumi Memorial Hospital was only a short walk from the station, so it didn't take them long to get back. When they arrived at the dorm, nobody was in the lounge. Akihiko led Akari to Mitsuru's bedroom and he knocked on her door. They waited patiently for an answer, but appeared to be wasting their time. He decided to try Yukari, but seemed to have no luck with her, either.

"I don't think anyone's in," Akari said quietly after there was no response from Yukari either.

"In that case, why don't we grab a snack and watch some anime?" He gave her a pleasant smile, which she returned with a nod and together they went back down to the kitchenette. "Do you like mochi?"

"I don't know. I've never had it before."

"Here-" Akihiko said, handing her a small packet containing a dark pink mochi.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "Aren't you having one?"

"Hmm…"

"I don't want to eat alone…I'd feel bad…" she admitted quietly, then blushed and felt annoyed with herself, realising she'd just spoken her thoughts aloud.

"You shouldn't. You were told to eat to get your strength back…" he trailed off, looking into her eyes now. "I guess I'll eat with you though."

"N-No, senpai, i-it's okay-"

"Senpai…?" he muttered curiously, raising his eyebrows.

"O-Oh…!" she realised. "I'm sorry-"

"It's too late. I did warn you earlier…" he reminded her, a slight smirk spreading across his lips as he grabbed a rice cake for himself. "If I were you, I'd watch out for my revenge."

She swallowed nervously. "Revenge…?"

"Yeah. D'you want to go upstairs and watch some anime now?"

Akari nodded and followed him up to his bedroom. His scent was strong as she entered; it brought back all of her memories from when she'd first arrived in Japan. "Akihiko…do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course not," she said, turning on his television. When he turned around, Akari was still standing by the door timidly, looking unsure of what to do. "Hey, make yourself at home. We're friends, remember?"

"Okay…" she said, shyly walking to his bed and sitting down. "Um…what I wanted to ask you was…how long was I unconscious for?"

"Just over a week."

"What!"

"Nine days, to be precise."

"Nine!"

"I was a little surprised you weren't out for longer, to be honest. Your energy was completely drained. You won't be doing anything energetic for a while though, you still need to get your energy back."

Akari didn't know what to say. She stared blankly at the television, paying no attention whatsoever to the advert for an anime about a train.

"This is your kind of anime, right?" he asked, taking a sideways glance at her. "Akari?"

"Sorry…what did you say?"

"It's okay, I'll show you next time. What were you thinking about?"

"Um…that elevator…"

"Again?" Akihiko wondered curiously. "Why don't you explain this recurring dream to me?"

Akari reluctantly explained how she visited an elderly man called Igor and all of the things he'd said to her. She said how realistic the dream felt and how it massively related to her real life right now and that Igor plans to introduce her to another resident of the room when she visits of her own accord.

"It's a recurring dream, but different things happen each time…it's hard to explain…"

"I think I get it."

"Okay…well every time I wake up from this dream, I feel so sick, as if I actually was in a constantly ascending elevator…as if it really happened…but anyway, l-let's talk about something else!"

"No, I'm intrigued. So you say he talked to you about Personae and helping you create them?"

Akari nodded, staring into her lap. "He said he'll help me fuse them together when I obtain them in battles and I can switch between them when I'm fighting, too…but it makes no sense. It was as if he was talking about the future."

Akihiko looked guilty and swallowed nervously. "He could be…"

"You think it's real?"

"Well, I mean it could be a premonition dream."

"What makes you think that?"

"I just have a hunch…"

She felt confused and stared at him softly. "…I hope you're wrong."

Akihiko felt her gaze and turned to look at her, noticing she looked anxious now. He then made a noise and appeared dispirited. "Y-Yeah, me too."

There were two reasons for him feeling that way. He first felt his heart sink because she didn't seem keen on using her Persona to help fight the Shadows…not that he blamed her for not wanting to, but a part of him had hoped he'd get to fight alongside her. The second reason was that he'd suddenly been reminded of his little sister and now saw Akari as a timid, fragile young girl who needed protecting, not being thrust into danger…

"If it comes to it, I'll protect you," Akihiko told her after thinking it through. "Even if my rib is still broken…"

Akari just looked at him and didn't know what to say, feeling her cheeks going a little pink. "Y-Your rib's broken!"

"Yeah, when those Shadows attacked the dorm I was training my Persona, but it was too strong…"

"Senpai…" she whispered.

"I'm okay. Oh, I should probably have my bed to myself tonight though," he added with a smirk.

Her cheeks went from light pink to glowing red. "I-I'm sorry about that, senpai-"

"Don't be," he warned her. "If it wasn't for my rib, I'd be getting my revenge right now."

Akari didn't know what to say. She got in trouble for apologising and for calling him senpai so she decided to simply stay quiet. Akihiko looked satisfied as he turned to the television. An episode of 'Lucky Star' was about to finish; he pressed a button on the remote and a guide came up on screen.

"Miracle Train?" Akari wondered, reading what was showing next on that channel. She saw the genre was labelled 'romance' and looked at Akihiko. "Um…let's watch something else-"

"No, I'd like to try something new again," he interrupted with a smile. "Besides, this is the one I wanted to show you. I think you'll like it."


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the words of encouragement! And thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read each chapter so far. ^o^

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Six**

An announcer introduced Miracle Train in speedy Japanese. The opening scene began and Akari stared, listening intently to the Japanese lyrics and watching as each character was introduced. "There's a lot of Kanji…are they…tube stations?"

"Yeah, it seems like it. Can you read it?"

"No…" she said sadly. "I only know really basic Japanese…"

"Really? How will you manage here?"

"I'm sure I'll pick it up slowly, that and I can teach myself a bit too."

Akihiko seemed unsure and thought to himself. "Hmm…"

Akari was transfixed to the screen as soon as a young girl and her dog appeared on it. Together they watched the anime, by the end of which, Akari was still awake. Akihiko seemed surprised at this, but realised it was only half past nine.

"Well I'm tired, even if you're not," Akihiko informed her, turning the television off.

"Oh, I'm sorry-"

"It's okay," he assured her, trailing off to yawn.

Akari stood up and stretched her legs. "I'll say goodnight and let you sleep then."

Akihiko smiled sleepily. "Sleep well and sweet dreams, Akari."

"Thanks, you too, senpai," she replied before walking over to his door. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Akari closed the door quietly behind her and sighed to herself before heading upstairs. She unlocked her door and saw her bedroom for the first time. The walls were a creamy colour and the floor was natural and wooden. A single bed with a pink patchwork quilt was in the corner next to a large wardrobe. In the other corner at the end of the bed was a small television, next to which was a desk, a sink and a mini fridge.

"How quaint…" she muttered, closing the door behind her and felt a sudden whoosh of tiredness coming over her. She decided to lie on her bed for five minutes before finally unpacking her backpack and suitcase…

The next thing Akari knew, it was Monday morning. She sat up on her bed and looked around sleepily. It suddenly hit her that she didn't recognise her surroundings and she panicked, getting up and rushing out of the door-

"Huh…? The dorm?" she wondered aloud, recognising the corridor where the girls' bedrooms were.

A door opened at the end of the corridor by the stairs and a girl walked out, stopping when she noticed Akari standing there. "Akari! When did you get back?"

"Um…last night…"

"Did you come back alone?"

"No…Akihiko-senpai was there, so…"

"Oh, thank goodness! How are you feeling?"

"Fine, of course!" she replied with an over-enthusiastic smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well you just got out of the hospital and you look a little scared…"

"I'm fine, really," Akari assured her hastily.

"Hmm…all right…then are you coming down for breakfast? We should leave soon."

"Oh, that's right." Akari followed her down to the kitchenette where another girl was just washing up a bowl.

"Good morning," the other girl said in a formal voice.

"Good morning, Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari replied, grabbing a loaf of bread.

"Good morning, Mitsuru-senpai," Akari repeated, unable to believe herself for forgetting their names.

"How are you feeling, Akari?" Mitsuru asked.

"Oh, fine thanks."

"I trust you weren't sent home from the hospital alone?"

"No, I brought her back," Akihiko interrupted, appearing behind Akari and making her jump. "The doctor said she needs to eat a little more than normal and to rest lots until Wednesday at the earliest; that means no strenuous activities."

Akari wondered why Akihiko was trying to protect her. "I'll be okay…"

"You should follow the doctor's orders," Mitsuru told her. "Feel free to help yourself to anything in the cupboards until then."

"Thank you, but I'm sure I won't need extra food-"

"Akari," Akihiko said in a concerned tone. "Please just try your best with each meal. You haven't eaten for just over a week."

"You'll make us worry," Yukari told her, looking anxious. "Just start off little by little and have an extra slice of toast today."

"I'm not hungry…" she said with a sigh.

"When you smell my toast cooking I'm sure you will be."

Sure enough, after Yukari's toast popped Akari's stomach was rumbling and she put three slices of bread in the toaster. "What should I do with the extra slice if I get full?"

"I'll eat it," Akihiko told her, already scrambling some eggs.

Akari was surprised at how much he could eat. "Those eggs smell good…"

"Want some with your toast?"

"No, it's all right thanks-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but I'm leaving now. I'll see you all tonight."

"See you later, Mitsuru-senpai," Yukari called after her in unison with Akari.

"Goodbye, Mitsuru," Akihiko said. "Here, Akari."

Akari received a small plate with some scrambled eggs. "Senpai-"

"Just take it and eat up, or I'll get mad at you."

That was the last thing Akari wanted right now. She obediently placed the plate on the counter and took two slices of toast. After buttering them, she arranged the egg on top and cut the toast neatly into triangles. She sat down next to Yukari and timidly began to eat. "Thank you for the scrambled eggs…"

Akihiko gave a single nod and joined them at the table with his own scrambled eggs on toast. They all ate silently; Akari felt awkward, but Akihiko and Yukari seemed to be too into their food to notice anything else.

"Oh, Akari, Mitsuru-senpai told me a little while ago that you wanted to cook for us all."

"O-Oh, yeah…"

"Why don't you do it this week?"

"Um…okay…is that all right with you, Akihiko-senpai?"

"Of course."

"Cool! So, what are you going to cook? Or is it a surprise?"

Akari didn't want to answer her and say that she's going to teach Akihiko how to cook a roast dinner…but she didn't want to ignore her, either so she decided to go with Yukari's second option.

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Yukari exclaimed. "I can't wait! Will it be English food?"

"Maybe," Akari teased, finishing her breakfast. "That was delicious. Thank you, Akihiko-senpai."

As she stood up to take her plate to the sink, Akihiko got up too and beat her to it. "You're still a guest."

Akari felt a little annoyed but respected his politeness. "Thank you…"

Akihiko smiled, wondering if she finally accepted that she was a guest in the dorm. "You should get changed for school."

Akari was confused. She looked down at her clothes to see she was wearing her squirrel t-shirt and skinny jeans, realising the five minute nap she was going to take last night must have turned into an all night slumber. After rushing to her bedroom to change, she left the dorm with Akihiko and Yukari and began the journey to school.

As they were walking down the familiar street to Gekkoukan, Akihiko and Yukari were having a discussion…about what, Akari didn't know since she was in her own world. They reached the gates and were about to walk through them until a voice called one of their names.

"Akari!" they called, jogging to catch up to them and bringing her back to Earth.

"Junpei?" Yukari wondered.

"Morning, Yuka-chan. Oh, Akihiko-senpai…morning."

"Morning," Akihiko replied as they started to walk again.

"Hey, are you okay, Akari? You weren't in school for over a week. Did you have an upset stomach or something?"

"N-No…I'm fine though."

"Oh, that's good…hey, before you were off sick there was a rumour about a first-year student who stopped coming to school. Apparently all she does now is sits and stares at walls all day, muttering 'It's coming…'. Freaky, huh?"

"Y-Yeah…" Akari agreed, feeling a little creeped out.

"Hey, don't scare her," Akihiko said to Junpei as they went through the doors to the entrance hall.

Junpei looked at Akihiko quickly with raised eyebrows before following Yukari to the second-years' lockers. "This way, Akari. You can share my locker today if you want."

Akihiko watched after them as Akari went after Junpei. He sighed to himself and stepped over to his locker. A part of him wished he'd thought to suggest sharing lockers with Akari since he'd pretty much taken care of her since she'd arrived in Japan and felt as though his role was to set an example to her; he stuffed his bag into his locker in frustration and closed the door.

"Are you okay…?"

"Huh?" Akihiko looked up. "Oh, Akari…yeah, I'm fine. I'll see you tonight. Have a nice day."

"U-Um…" she whispered, watching him walk off.

"What's up with him?" Yukari asked, appearing next to Akari.

"I don't know," she answered, staring at the staircase he'd gone up. "Did I say or do something-?"

"I doubt it since you haven't said a word all morning. To be honest, that's what he's normally like. For some reason he seems to be showing another side of himself when you're around."

She didn't know what to say back to that, but wondered if what Yukari had just said was true. Her mind found it hard to believe that someone would do that solely in her presence. "So…that's what he's really like…?"

"Brief, to the point and serious on the outside, yeah."

"On the outside? Have you ever seen another side of him?"

"Actually, no. But like I said, he's acting different around you. Well, up until just now."

"Then I must have done something-"

"I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure he's fine. If he's his usual self, that can't be bad, can it?"

"I-I suppose not…"

Yukari started walking. "Come on, I'll show you where our history classroom is. Oh, by the way, do you remember Shuji Ikutsuki, the chairman of the board at Gekkoukan?"

"Vaguely, why?"

"He wants to talk to you tonight, there's something important he wants to discuss."

"Important? With me?"

"Hey, what's all the gossip?" Junpei interrupted.

"Nothing that concerns you, Junpei," Yukari told him curtly. "How much did you hear?"

"Only something about an important discussion…does it involve a bunch of cute girls?"

"No, it doesn't. Even if it did, you wouldn't be invited."

"Sheesh, Yuka-chan, you're so mean. I bet Akari would-"

"This isn't up for discussion. It's nothing to do with me. I just passed a message on to Akari, that's all."

Junpei scowled at Yukari and swapped to Akari's other side. "See what I've had to put up with?"

"I heard that, Junpei!" Yukari told him, grabbing Akari's arm and dragging her away. "Let's go."

When they got to their history classroom, Yukari took a desk by the wall and asked Akari to sit next to her so Junpei couldn't. She obeyed and sat down as he walked in and took a seat on her left. Akari swallowed nervously and hoped the class would go by smoothly as an older man walked in; it was immediately obvious he was their teacher before he even uttered a word because of the old helm on his head.

"Good morning, everyone…for Akari's sake, I'm Mister Ono and I will be teaching you about Japanese history, although it doesn't get interesting until the Sengoku era…anyway, I'm going to briefly continue the talk from our last lesson about mammoths in the Stone Age. I don't see the big deal, they're just huge elephants. Once that's over, we'll move onto the Jomon period…I'm so tired of teaching lessons about stones..."

So after a short talk about mammoths (and Mister Ono really did insist that they're just huge elephants: "Are you sure you don't want to move on? I've got a great story about the Sengoku era…"), he started their lecture on the Jomon period by randomly asking Junpei if he knew what the style of houses were called in that era.

"How am I supposed to know about something from way back then! You haven't even taught us about that yet!" Junpei said, apparently outraged. Chatter quickly broke out amongst the rest of the class. Junpei took this chance to ask Akari if she knew what Mister Ono was talking about.

"He's talking about mud huts. They were holes dug in the ground with supported roofs-"

"That's correct. Well done, Akari. Now, let's see…" Mr Ono interrupted, silencing the class. He didn't care who answered as long as they got it right, meaning he could move on faster and get one step closer to the Sengoku era.

"Thanks, Akari," Junpei whispered, smiling gratefully.

She gave him a small nod and returned the smile. The rest of Mister Ono's lecture was actually very interesting, since Akari was very much into Japanese history. She wasn't too sure that the rest of the class was as engrossed as she was. Still, she was enjoying herself, so she let her mind fill with her own interpretations of Mister Ono's words.

The rest of school went by very fast; Akari was surprised when it was time to go home. She realised how much fun she must have been having for that to happen as Akihiko's words echoed in her head: 'Time flies when you're having fun, right?'

For most of the journey back to the dorm, her mind was immersed in thoughts about her Japanese history lesson so there was no room for her emotions to play on the fact that she was heading home alone again.

"Akari, you're finally back," a relived voice said as she entered the dorm.

Akari noticed Yukari sitting on the sofa with a vaguely familiar older man whom she realised must be Shuji and took a seat opposite them. "Hello Yukari. Good afternoon, Mister Ikutsuki."

"Good afternoon, Miss Rose. I assume you are aware that I want a word with you today. However, if you don't mind, I'd like to wait for Mitsuru and Akihiko-"

"Sorry, Mister Ikutsuki. I had something I needed to take care of," Mitsuru interrupted, having just come down the stairs.

"That's all right. You could have taken your time. We still need to wait for Akihiko."

"He still hasn't arrived? I'll give him a ring-"

"It's all right, Mitsuru. We can wait for him. Besides, doesn't he attend boxing club on Mondays?"

"No, Mondays are one of his days off. He was informed of the meeting today-"

"We're in no rush. Let's postpone the meeting until after dinner. Or even better, we can discuss things over dinner. I happened to bring a bottle of my finest sake…"

"None of us are of age yet though," Yukari pointed out.

"That's why I brought a bottle of fresh melon bubble tea, too." Shuji grabbed the backpack beside the sofa.

"Oh, thank you, Mister Ikutsuki!" Yukari said gratefully. "I'll serve it up. Would you like a cup of your sake?"

"That's all right, Yukari, I can pour it myself. Thank you, though."

Yukari and Shuji headed over to the kitchenette to serve the drinks, leaving Akari alone with Mitsuru. She felt nervous in her presence and greatly overpowered.

"How are you feeling, Akari?" Mitsuru asked.

Akari looked up from her lap. "O-Oh, I'm fine, thanks."

"Did you eat lunch today?"

She nodded. "I took an apple, b-but don't worry, I'll replace it!"

"It's all right. Just eat as much as you need. Remember, you need to get your strength back."

"Are you sure?"

Mitsuru nodded with a 'un' noise. "It's only an apple. There are plenty more in the kitchen and even so, they aren't expensive."

"But I can't just eat everyone's food-"

"We've already told you we don't mind you eating whatever you like until you regain your energy, so please just eat as much as you need to."

"Thank you so much, Mitsuru-senpai."

Mitsuru smiled warmly, looking a little relieved. "You're welcome."

"Here you go guys-" Yukari interrupted, holding two tall glasses of bubble tea.

"Thank you, Yukari," Mitsuru said, carefully taking a glass.

"Um…what's bubble tea?" Akari asked, politely taking the other glass.

"Melon-flavoured milk with green tea and tapioca pearls," Shuji explained, sitting back down with a small cup of sake.

"But it comes in lots of other flavours," Yukari chimed in from the kitchenette, pouring her own glass of bubble tea.

With that, Akari took a sip through the huge straw in her glass. "Wow, it's good!"

"I know, right?" Yukari agreed, taking a sip of hers and throwing herself in an armchair.

The door handle turned and Akihiko walked in. He closed the door and strode past the lounge, but suddenly came to a stop mid-stride, noticing a silver case on the coffee table. "Is that an Evoker?"

"Yes," Mitsuru replied.

Akihiko turned to face the lounge. "You should start the meeting without me. I'll join you later."

Mitsuru looked like she wanted to say something, but merely sighed and turned to Shuji. "Very well. Let us begin."

Shuji looked amused and moved his gaze to Akari. "First, let me ask you this: Would you believe me if I told you a day consists of more than twenty-four hours?"

Akari stared at him and frowned slightly. "What do you mean…?"

He let out a chuckle. "Of course not, most people wouldn't…let's see, do you remember the night you fell unconscious?"

She looked down at her lap and closed her eyes. "Yes…"

"That night you awakened to your Persona. You experienced the Dark Hour without transmogrifying and saved Yukari's life by using your new power to defeat a great enemy."

Akari felt a little stunned, but remembered bits of what Akihiko and Igor had explained to her on Tuesday evening so it made it slightly easier to understand. "I-I see…"

"Your Persona is a manifestation of your personality. It's like a shadow of yourself, or a mask to assist you when facing hardships," Mitsuru explained. "The enemy you defeated was something we call a 'Shadow'. Occasionally, when a human doesn't transmogrify into a coffin and wanders into the Dark Hour, it will become immediate prey for the Shadow. The Shadow will devour the mind of the human; that's how a person develops Apathy Syndrome."

"That's when they become like zombies," Yukari explained. "Except they don't want to eat brains…instead they just want to eat people's souls."

Akari stared in shock. "Peoples'…souls?"

"We're safe though since we have our Personae to fight them."

Even though Yukari was trying to be comforting, Akari still felt discomforted by this news. She looked from Yukari to Mitsuru and didn't know how to respond, but felt she should say something to hide her anxiety from them.

"I hope you haven't been scaring her," Akihiko said, walking across the lounge and sitting next to Akari.

"We've just been explaining Personae and Shadows to start with," Shuji informed him.

"I see," he said quietly.

Akari looked at him timidly. She wanted to ask him if she'd done something to upset him, but there was no chance of that happening when there were other people around.

He started to feel her stare and turned to look at her. "You okay, Akari?"

Her eyes widened. "O-Of course!"

They held each others' gaze for a few seconds; Akihiko's expression showed that he clearly didn't believe her, but decided to let it slide for the time being. She tried her best to give him a smile before looking away from his discerning stare.

"We call the people who've developed Apathy Syndrome 'the Lost'," Akihiko informed her, breaking the silence. "Normally an ordinary human will turn into a coffin and 'play dead' during the Dark Hour."

"The Dark Hour is an extra hour in the day. It happens every night at midnight," Shuji explained. "Only those with the ability to summon a Persona can function normally during this time."

Akari nodded. "I understand…but it's a lot to take in, it'll probably take a while for it to sink in…"

"I imagine it seems like a big joke to you right now," Yukari said. "That's how I felt when I found out about all this stuff, but after a while I came to realise that this is something that was meant to happen to me, so I'm giving it my all."

Akari swallowed nervously. "There's…no way out?"

"Well, you could just ignore it all and carry on with your normal life," Akihiko said, trying not to sound disappointed.

"Or you could help us out," Mitsuru said, sounding desperate as she unlocked the silver case. "We want you to join us."

Akari stared at the 'Evoker', a gleaming gun exactly like the one she'd seen Akihiko use and the one she'd used herself to save Yukari. "…Join you?"

"Yes. It's very rare for someone to have the ability to summon a Persona. We need all the strength we can get to help us fight the Shadows."

"Don't think about it too much though, just hang out with us for a while," Akihiko said, trying to comfort her.

Akari nodded. "I don't think I'm ready to help you out...I'm not exactly a confident person and don't think I'm capable of…fighting 'Shadows'…"

"Well, just give it some time," Akihiko said. "You don't need to make a decision tonight-"

"Please," Mitsuru interrupted, staring at Akari in desperation. "We need your help."

"Mitsuru, Akihiko's right. She doesn't need to make a decision tonight. It's a lot to take in and it's a big favour we're asking of her the moment she discovers her Persona-"

"But that was well over a week ago now, Mister Ikutsuki. It is important for us to eliminate the Shadows to prevent people developing Apathy Syndrome."

"I understand what you are saying and I completely agree, but let's not rush. We'll give her some time to think it over. The poor girl must be overwhelmed!"

"Well, just a little," Akari admitted quietly."And I'd love to help you all out, but I really don't think I have the strength…"

"That's where training comes in," Akihiko said, sounding as eager as he looked.

Mitsuru immediately looked at him. "I hope you haven't been taking part in such activities."

Akihiko almost glared back. "I've been taking it slowly, so don't worry."

Mitsuru sighed. "Akihiko…"

Before an argument could break out, Shuji interrupted them. Akari didn't really hear what he was saying; instead she felt as though she was drifting away from the world and became dazed. Shuji, Yukari, Mitsuru and Akihiko merely saw her staring at the coffee table, but something inside of Akari felt as though it was swelling with power.

"Master Akari Rose…" a calming voice called out quietly. "This is the first step in your new found friendships amongst your housemates. As you become closer to them, the power of the Fool arcana will grow inside of you, enabling the ability to hold stronger Personae of that arcana…well then, good luck, Miss Rose…"

Akari shook her head as though she was shaking a fly away. "What…?"

Everyone looked at her. She was wide-eyed and looked back at them all, then let out a small giggle and smiled sheepishly.

"I was just saying that Mitsuru said herself the other day how you need to conserve your strength, Akari," Shuji explained, an amused smile still upon his face. "Thus contradicting what she just said about rushing you into joining."

"Forgive me," Mitsuru said quietly, staring into her lap now. "We'll give you as long as you need to think about it. Just let us know when you've made a decision."

"Okay," Akari agreed timidly, even though she'd tried to back out of it. She was barely thinking about it anymore though, because there was something she wanted to ask Akihiko. "U-Um…Akihiko…senpai…"

He turned to face her. "What is it?"

Akari felt herself blushing. "C-Can I have a word with you, please?"

Akihiko looked curious and stood up. "Yeah, of course."

She followed him across the lounge and up the first flight of stairs. When she was sure nobody was listening and could hear chatter coming from below, she nervously cleared her throat. "Um…w-well, there are two things I wanted to ask you…"

"Two?" Akihiko wondered, looking even more curious.

Akari nodded, continuing to look at his waistcoat. "D-Do you want to cook the roast dinner with me tonight?"

"All right," he agreed without hesitation. "What's the other thing?"

"U-Um…" she muttered almost inaudibly. "It doesn't matter…"

"It's clearly worrying you, so why don't you tell me?"

"W-Well, I just noticed a sudden change in you…since Sunday evening, to be specific…"

"What kind of change?" Akihiko asked, sounding a little nervous.

"I don't know how to describe it," Akari answered truthfully. "Your personality changed on Sunday night and since then, you've been a little…different."

"Really?" Akihiko wondered, looking a little blank.

Akari nodded. "It's like you're in a bad mood…I-I was worried if maybe I'd done something to annoy you…"

Akihiko looked troubled as he averted his eyes to the floor and sighed. "I've got a few things on my mind."

Her heart thudded hard in her chest. "What have I done?"

"I'd just like it if you'd accept that you're a guest for now…it makes me feel…r-rejected…?"

Akari looked up from his waistcoat and into his chocolate eyes, wondering why he was questioning his feelings about rejection. "You shouldn't feel rejected, senpai. I'm just not used to this culture and I feel awful when you tend to my every need. Besides, I accept your politeness, so you really don't have to worry. You're a wonderful person."

Akihiko's eyes found hers when he heard her little speech. She smiled warmly when their gazes met and he tried to return the gesture without blushing. "T-Thanks, Akari…"

He managed to smile back, mainly because it was the most he'd ever heard her talk. He decided not to mention it though, since he figured she'd probably get nervous and stop talking altogether, so whilst she seemed to be feeling confident, he thought he'd better make the most of it. "Is there anything else that's troubling you?"

"No, that's it…we should head back downstairs to start cooking though. The chicken will take about an hour to roast."

Akihiko decided that her tone was convincing enough to be telling the truth. He gave a small nod and a friendly smile before following her down the stairs. "So…what do we need to do first?"

"We need to prepare the chicken and vegetables…um, what would you rather do?"

He smiled to himself as she began to look a little flustered whilst grabbing things from the fridge. He began to notice the nervousness in her returning and had an urge to tease her.

"You tell me, Akari. You're the chef," he told her, grabbing the chicken and tearing the plastic away from it, about to put it on the side-

"No, wait!" Akari exclaimed, grabbing his free arm. "Don't put the chicken on the side yet!"

Akihiko froze, feeling tense from her hand holding his arm. "W-Why not?"

"We need to wash it first."

Akari saw him blush a little and avert his eyes. "Y-You're right…because of cross-contamination…"

"Are you okay, senpai?"

"Of course I am."

"What else is on your mind? Here, let me take the chicken."

She took the chicken from his hands, finally releasing his arm. Akihiko looked a little lost for words as he watched her take it to the sink. He looked over his shoulder to check if Mitsuru, Yukari and Shuji were still talking amongst themselves before deciding to tell Akari what else was on his mind.

"I was thinking about…what it would be like…if you joined us."

Akari dropped the chicken in the sink. "O-Oh…"

"It made me sad how much you tried to back out," he admitted, appearing next to her and turning on the tap.

"I'm sorry. I just don't think I'm strong or confident enough to…fight 'Shadows'…"

Akihiko watched Akari carefully rinsing the chicken. "Like I said before, that's where training comes in, but you shouldn't think on it too much. Just spend some time with us and see how you like it here."

"Okay, that I can do."

Akihiko let out a small sigh of relief. "That makes me feel a little better, but I'd like you to promise me something."

"Anything that'd make you feel better…so what is it?" she responded curiously, holding the chicken up to drain it.

"Anything…?" he repeated with a hint of teasing in his voice.

"Of course, senpai. Um, would you mind-"

He quickly grabbed a large roasting tray, spooned a little oil over the bottom and placed it next to the sink. "The first thing I'd like you to promise is that you won't call me senpai anymore, just Akihiko."

"Thank you…" she murmured, placing the chicken in the tray. "I can't promise that because I forget things sometimes and I don't want to break promises…"

"It's okay, I'll just punish you when you forget so eventually you'll remember not to," he told her with a smirk.

"Punish me…? How?" she wondered, unsure whether or not she actually wanted to know the answer.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

Akari dared to look at him, but only for a second. He looked pleased with himself. She looked away quickly and grabbed the bag of potatoes to hide the fact that she was starting to blush. "S-So, apart from that…what else is on your mind?"

Akihiko watched her as she began to peel a potato. "Not being able to train."

"Oh, that's right, because of your rib…i-is that why your personality suddenly changed…?"

"I think it's just a build up of everything. I'm worried you won't join us, I want my rib to heal, I want to train…and I thought you'd died the night the Shadow attacked the dorm…"

Akari's knife slipped suddenly and cut her finger. "Ouch!"

"Are you okay! Here, I'll get you a plaster-"

She put pressure on the cut with another finger whilst Akihiko grabbed the first aid kit on the wall. He quickly found a small plaster, peeled away the backing and gently took her hand.

"Thank you, Akihiko," she said gratefully as he wrapped the plaster carefully around her cut.

"You're welcome. No, I'll peel the potatoes-" he said, stopping her from picking up the peeler. "You're injured."

"It's only a cut, I'll be okay-"

"It'll be awkward with a plaster. Besides, I want to practise. It's one of the few things I can do with a broken rib. That and you're supposed to be teaching me how to do it."

Akari was beaten again and felt a sudden wave of courage come over her. "That may be true…you know, one day I'll have a good enough comeback to outsmart you."

Akihiko chuckled. "Is that…a threat?"

She immediately blushed. "M-Maybe."

He swiftly peeled the last bit of the potato in his hand. "I'll look forwards to that day."

Once the whole bag of potatoes had been peeled, Akari helped him arrange them around the chicken with the bag of parsnips. She explained that it needed to be basted every ten minutes to avoid it drying out and how to tell when it's finished cooking. "There won't be any time to rest though. We need to get the cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings and stuffing in the oven in about five minutes."

"We'd better get to it then," he said enthusiastically, opening the box of Yorkshire puddings. "How many?"

"Five, one for each of us. Just put them on a tray and I'll show you what to do with this."

Akihiko did as he was asked and arranged five Yorkshire puddings neatly on a tray. He appeared next to Akari as she was just floretting the cauliflower.

"Something smells good over there!" a voice called from over in the lounge.

Akari gasped and turned around quickly, somehow managing to bump into Akihiko's chest. He caught her and chuckled.

"S-Sorry…" she whispered.

"Don't worry about it," he told her, letting her go carefully. "Are you okay?"

"Mhm, thanks…who was that?"

"Yukari. I guess she can smell the chicken already. I'd better go and tell them that this is for everyone-"

"N-No, I'll tell them once I've shown you what to do with the cheese sauce…you wanted to learn, so…and I need to build up my confidence around other people."

"That's true."

Akari giggled nervously and spooned some butter into a saucepan. "S-So…you melt the butter, then add the flour to make a roux…afterwards you gradually add the milk and you have to keep stirring all the time so it doesn't go lumpy. Does that make sense?"

"Pretty much, apart from the roux part."

"To explain it I'd have to go into a lot more detail…but you just want it to end up looking like a thick soup."

"All right. That seems easy enough."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, now go already," he ushered before blushing. "But be quick, I don't want to mess it up."

Akari smiled affectionately and giggled. "You won't. Just remember that it should look like a thick soup."

"I'll do my best."

She rushed over to the lounge where Mitsuru was chatting with Shuji. Yukari looked as though she didn't know what to say and wanted to face palm at whatever he'd just said.

"Oh, hey Akari," she said, eager to talk to someone else.

"Hello," Akari said quietly. "Um…"

"What are you cooking?"

Akari didn't know how to describe a roast dinner to someone from another culture. "W-Well…it's a surprise…for everyone-"

"Really! Mitsuru-senpai, did you hear that? Akari's cooking tonight!"

"Yes, I heard," Mitsuru said with a smile. "It smells delicious."

Akari felt herself smile broadly, but blushed when she realised. "I-I just hope it turns out okay."

"It can't be bad if it smells good," Yukari told her.

"Heh…well, we'll see…but I-"

"A-Akari…!" Akihiko called from the kitchenette.

"Don't panic!" she yelled back. "I'll be one more minute!"

"I'm not sure if it'll survive-"

"Turn the heat down and keep stirring!" Akari called back to Akihiko. "U-Um, what I was saying, was…I just wanted to make sure you're okay with me cooking tonight, I-I mean, I didn't ask you first…"

"That's not a problem," Mitsuru told her. "Everyone's hungry."

"You should hurry back to the kitchen though," Yukari urged. "Otherwise it might go wrong with Akihiko taking care of the food on his own…don't tell him I said that!"

"I won't," Akari promised and rushed back over to the kitchenette straight away; for some reason she doubted his cooking skills too.

"Look, it's gone all weird-"

"No it hasn't," Akari told him, smiling and holding back a giggle. "That's how it's supposed to be. Now add the milk."


	7. Chapter 7

Arigatou gozaimasu~ It means a lot to me to see people reading and following my story.

So without any further delays, here is the next chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Seven**

Akihiko managed to hide his blushing since he was facing the stove; he added some of the milk and carried on stirring, deciding not to say anything more so he didn't embarrass himself further in front of Akari. The lump of paste he'd created slowly blended with the milk as he carefully mixed them together, adding the milk little by little. Once the cheese sauce was finished, Akihiko poured it over the cauliflower and put it on the tray with the Yorkshire puddings; Akari then taught him how to prepare the stuffing and once that was ready, he put it all in the oven.

"What's next?" he asked, clearly anticipating more cooking.

"We need to boil the other vegetables and make the gravy, then that's everything."

Akihiko grabbed the bags of peas and carrots. "What do we do with them…?"

"The peas just go straight into a saucepan of water, but the carrots need peeling and slicing."

"I'll do the carrots," he told her, remembering her cut.

"Okay. I'll sort out the peas." Akari made a tear in the bag of peas and poured some into a saucepan. Akihiko was about to finish peeling his first carrot already. She watched him in awe at his speed. "You're really fast…"

"They need to be done quickly, right? Besides, it's a simple task."

It made her happy how fast he'd picked things up. She felt satisfied with her guidance and watched the peas bubbling gently as he finished the bag of carrots in no time.

"There was something else I wanted you to promise me," Akihiko said, breaking the silence as they waited for the food to cook.

"What's that?" she asked, looking at him out of curiosity.

"I know you said you'd see how you like it here, but…I'd like you to promise me you won't back out without trying first."

"Back out…?" she repeated, wondering if he meant exactly what she thought.

"I mean, rest and get your strength back, then at least see what it's like fighting Shadows with us before you say no."

Nervousness washed over Akari and she turned away to poke the peas with a wooden spoon.

"Say something…" he murmured. "Please."

Akari remembered that she'd said she'd promise anything that would make him feel better earlier, so it made it impossible to say no now. "I promise, Akihiko…I won't back out before trying."

"R-Really? Thank you, Akari."

On the outside, Akari smiled reassuringly. On the inside, however, she felt incredibly nervous and wondered how on Earth she was going to get the courage to see what it's like fighting Shadows with everyone else…but a part of her somehow felt relieved, too. She realised Akihiko must have been worried about her; the least she could do was make sure she didn't disappoint him.

Dinner was due to be ready in five minutes. Akari was quickly preparing the gravy and Akihiko was checking on the food in the oven. Yukari and Mitsuru were laying the table and Shuji watched from the armchair with his second cup of sake.

"It's ready," Akari announced rather quietly, stirring the gravy.

"Dinner's done!" Akihiko yelled to the lounge, taking the chicken out of the oven and setting it down on the side. "You guys better get yourselves at the table!"

Akari blushed and cleared her throat. "I-I'm sorry, I wasn't loud enough-"

"Don't worry about it. Want me to take the chicken to the table?"

"Yes, please," Akari said gratefully, grabbing some plates from the cupboard where she remembered bowls were. Since there were no serving bowls, Akari spooned equal amounts of carrots and peas onto each plate and suddenly Akihiko was very close to her and reached around her to put a Yorkshire pudding on the plate she was spooning peas onto.

"Thanks for teaching me," he whispered in her ear.

"I-It's nothing," she replied quietly, going a little pink.

"I really appreciated it. I'll repay the favour one day."

"Oh, there's no need-"

"Yukari, did you get the carving knife?" he asked loudly, ignoring Akari and grabbing the stuffing and cauliflower cheese.

"Sorry, no…want me to grab it?"

"It's all right, I'll get it. I've got more to bring over anyway."

Akari timidly carried the gravy and a plate over to the dining table where she put it down in front of the empty seat at the end of the table. "Mister Ikutsuki…dinner's ready."

"Why thank you, Miss Rose," Shuji said kindly, getting up from the armchair.

When Akari returned to the dining table, everyone else was seated. She placed the last two plates in front of Akihiko and the seat opposite his before sitting down and staring at her plate. "U-Um..."

"May I ask what delightful dishes you have cooked for us tonight?" Shuji asked politely.

"O-Oh, of course! Well, there's chicken, potatoes, honey-glazed parsnips, cauliflower cheese, sage stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, vegetables and gravy…"

"And what, may I ask…are Yorkshire puddings?"

Akihiko looked at Akari. She noticed everyone else staring at her too, curious of the answer to Shuji's question.

"Well, they're basically plain, cooked batter and they go really well with gravy…I-I really like them…" Akari told them quietly.

"It looks very interesting, Akari," Mitsuru commented. "Shuji, would you like to do the honours?"

"Of course," he replied. "Itadakimasu!"

At Shuji's words, everyone began to spoon food onto their plates; Akihiko made a start on carving the chicken but Akari just sat there and watched everyone help themselves.

"'Itadakimasu' means 'let's eat'," Akihiko explained as he put some chicken on his plate. "Pass me your plate."

Akari immediately gave it to him. He put a fair few slices of chicken on her plate and handed it back to her. She thanked him quietly and decided to continue letting everyone else take as much as they wanted before serving herself.

"Aren't you eating, Akari?" Yukari asked, taking a spoonful of peas.

"O-Oh, yes, I was just waiting for everyone to take what they wanted first…"

"You should get first choice since you cooked it."

"But Akihiko helped out a lot too-"

"I barely did anything," Akihiko interjected, pouring gravy over his food.

"Yes you did! You did pretty much everything after I cut my finger."

"I helped out a bit, that's all."

"You did a lot more than help out. You practically cooked the whole thing yourself."

"Either way, I've taken as much food as I want, so you should too."

Once again, Akari was defeated. She felt frustrated at Akihiko for some reason and wanted to glare at him. He was tucking into his food so he didn't notice her staring but after he'd taken a mouthful, he looked up from his plate and took a glance at Mitsuru next to him, whom was oblivious to what was going on, before staring back.

"Are you okay, Akari…?" he asked, sounding slightly nervous.

"O-Of course I am!" she replied instantly, realising she must have actually glared at him and spooned peas on her plate to try and hide it. "Why?"

"You looked a little…upset, that's all."

"I'm fine," she assured him quietly, taking a small spoonful of stuffing.

"Hmm…" he muttered, not really sure he believed her. "Oh, before I forget, Akari made me a promise earlier."

Akari looked up from her plate with the jug of gravy frozen in motion. "S-Senpai…"

"She promised me that she'd at least see what it's like fighting Shadows with us before she says no."

"Thank you so much, Miss Rose," Shuji said gratefully. "For agreeing to help us and for the food."

"Y-You're welcome…" she stuttered, trying to immerse herself in her food.

Yukari started to play with her food. "I hope nobody forced her into it…"

Akihiko began to feel guilty. "I just asked her not to give up without trying first. She insists that she lacks the confidence and fighting Shadows is something you need to train for and takes time to get used to. You saw how she defeated that Shadow, Yukari. She saved your life. We need her power."

Yukari looked at Akihiko for a few seconds before staring at Akari, who appeared to be completely unaware of the conversation about her. "You're right, but…it still makes me feel bad. That reminds me though. I need to thank you, Akari…if it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead. There's nothing good enough for me to repay you with except guaranteeing that I'll fight alongside you and protect you with all my strength."

Akari froze again, this time halfway through cutting a potato. "I didn't save you…you were already unconscious…"

"I just got knocked out for a bit, but if you weren't there the Shadow would have attacked me again, so…thanks Akari."

Akari gave Yukari a warm smile. "Technically, I don't think my mind was in control at that point-"

"Just give in, Akari. You saved her life. Deal with it."

Both Akari and Yukari looked at Akihiko. "Akihiko-senpai…"

He stared back at them. "What? Nothing can change that fact."

"C-Can I ask you guys something..?" Akari asked timidly.

"Of course," they all echoed in unison.

"Why did it feel like…I wasn't in control of myself when I summoned my Persona?"

"The first time is always like that," Shuji told her. "Not that I speak from experience, but from what others have said to me, the first time you summon your Persona, your soul awakens. This is partially due to the fact that you use an Evoker to summon it."

"Why do we use a gun?"

"It's not a real gun," Mitsuru informed her. "It's merely a tool to help us control our Personae. The reason it's a gun is because of the state of mind we come to when we use it. We gain a sense of terror and realisation of death from the emulated bullet shot, giving us the correct mindset to bring forth our Persona. That's why we call it an 'Evoker'."

Akari felt overwhelmed and unable to respond. Instead she nodded and began to let it all sink in. "I understand. Thank you…"

"Whilst we're on the subject, it might be a good idea to explain the activities we partake in after school," Shuji started, nearly finished with his food already. "Mitsuru, since you've finished, why don't you start us off?"

Akari looked over to Mitsuru's empty plate in surprise, but noticed Akihiko's plate was practically empty, too and listened to Mitsuru's explanation about how they belong to an after school club called the 'Specialised Extracurricular Execution Squad', or 'SEES' for short and how Shuji is the club's advisor. She also learnt that their aim is to explore the Dark Hour and a place called 'Tartarus'.

"We haven't really explored Tartarus much," Akihiko admitted. "We've only been as far as the entrance, but Mitsuru's Persona helped us discover that beyond the entrance there's a labyrinth full of Shadows."

The discussion continued over the rest of dinner; before she knew it, Mitsuru and Yukari were cleaning up around her. "Oh, no, please let me-"

"It's all right. You did your part by cooking and serving us a delicious dinner," Mitsuru told her, carrying the plates to the sink.

"Delicious…? So…you enjoyed it?"

"So much that I wouldn't mind having it again," Akihiko hinted with a warm smile.

Akari felt herself beginning to blush. "T-Thank you…I'm so glad you all liked it…"

Shuji put down his empty cup of sake. "My goodness, is that the time? I should head off. After all, the early bird catches the worm."

Yukari whispered an apology for Shuji's bad joke and everyone bid their goodbyes to him as he left the dorm. After Mitsuru and Yukari had finished cleaning up from dinner, they all sat in the lounge in silence. Akari wanted to run and hide to her bedroom, but speaking up was too much of a difficulty around her housemates that she still regarded as strangers.

"I think I'm going to relax in my room for a bit before I go to sleep," Yukari told everyone, breaking the silence.

"M-Me too," Akari chimed in, jumping at the chance to leave without feeling too embarrassed.

"Very well. Goodnight," Mitsuru said.

"Goodnight, then," Akihiko said.

"Goodnight," Akari said in unison with Yukari and turned to follow her.

When they reached the third floor, Yukari stopped outside her door. "A-Akari…?"

Akari stopped in her tracks outside her own door. "Mhm?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course."

Yukari faced Akari. "Well, I wanted to talk about the night that Shadow attacked the dorm…is that okay?"

"All right," Akari said, feeling a little wary.

"Okay…well, firstly I want to thank you again for saving me. I'm sorry I was such a coward…if I wasn't, things would have been different and you might not have ended up in hospital-"

"It's not your fault," Akari assured her. "I don't blame you for being too scared to summon your Persona. I was too; it just so happened that my mind was ready. I was scared, too."

"Really…? But the way you did it…you defeated the Shadow so quickly…and you didn't seem scared at all. I believe you, though. Personae, Shadows, Tartarus and the Dark Hour…it's all scary."

"That's for sure."

"I know how scared you must be. You seem a lot more timid than I am…but don't take that as a bad thing. I-I didn't mean it in that way…it's just…your power seems so great, yet you come across as a very fragile and shy person."

"That sounds about right."

Yukari giggled. "It's okay, though. I-I mean…I'll fight alongside you."

"Akihiko-senpai said that too. I appreciate how nice and welcoming you all are, but I don' think I'm cut out for this."

"I thought that too and sometimes I still wonder if I should be here fighting with everyone else, but d'you remember what I said earlier? I realised I'm meant to be here."

"Somehow I don't feel like that'll happen to me…"

"I didn't, either. To be honest, a part of the reason is you joining us."

"Me…?"

"Yeah…we're special, we're able to summon a Persona…don't you think that means something?"

"I suppose so, but…it still seems so surreal…"

"Yeah, it does. The more people we find that can summon a Persona, the better; the people of Port Island are becoming zombies and we can actually do something about it. Just saying that makes me feel stupid…"

"It sounds stupid," Akari agreed. "Like a bad dream."

"I know, right? Listen…there's something else I want to tell you. Before you came here, Mitsuru-senpai told us about you and your past, which made me feel like I could relate to you…and I feel bad about it. So I think it's only fair that you know about mine…"

"What did she tell you about my past?"

"…How you grew up in England, but you've never met your father and didn't have a good relationship with your mother, then you ran away to Japan about ten years ago until the police found you. You were taken back to England and stayed until your eighteenth birthday, which is when you legally moved out of your mother's house and relocated to Japan for good. Since then you've been living with a host family that you'd arranged before you got here."

Akari was in shock at how Yukari had just relayed her life to her and didn't know what to say.

"I'm really sorry-"

"How did Mitsuru-senpai find out about me? Did she know about me being able to summon a Persona?"

"I don't know how she found out, but her family is very important so I guess she has access to databases or something. She didn't know about you being able to summon a Persona, though. I guess you could say it was by chance that you came to this particular dorm. Mister Ikutsuki suggested monitoring you a couple of nights after you got here to see how you transmogrified…and when it turned out you didn't, he got very excited and wanted to keep monitoring you…that was, until the Shadow attacked the dorm."

"So he wanted me to join straight away," Akari realised.

"Exactly," Yukari said. "So…do you mind listening to my story…?"

"Of course not."

"Then will you come in my room? I don't want…other people to be able to hear."

Akari followed Yukari into her bedroom, curious about whom she meant by 'other people' and was reminded of the mysterious boy. She took in the décor of Yukari's bedroom; it was very pink and basic. There were a few posters on the walls of what Akari assumed were boy bands and actors.

"Feel free to sit wherever you like."

"Thank you," Akari said, kneeling on a pastel pink satin pillow. "Um…by 'other people', did you mean that mysterious boy?"

Yukari relaxed on the pillow opposite and giggled. "Mysterious boy? Are you talking about Akihiko?"

Akari realised that Yukari had no idea what she was talking about and thought she meant Akihiko was mysterious because of his personality. "I suppose so. Well, never mind."

Yukari sighed softly. "So, you see…I don't exactly have a good relationship with my mother, either…and my father died ten years ago supposedly in an explosion, but nobody really knows if that's true. I was very young, so I don't remember much about it anyway. My Persona awakened after I came here…I don't know if it can really be called fate, but I'm sticking around in hope that I'll discover something. "

Akari didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry to hear that…it must have been hard for you. I kind of get where you're coming from though."

"I thought you might. I can sense a similarity between us; though you might not like it because it's to do with our parents."

"You're right, it's not a good thing to have in common," Akari agreed. "I-I…lost my grandad a few years ago. He was a father to me and my best friend."

"Oh my gosh…I'm so sorry…"

Akari fell silent.

"Let's change the subject…d'you want to watch some anime? I heard about one that's about a train full of cute guys who save girls from their troubles. I missed it yesterday but it'll probably be repeated tonight."

"Oh, I saw it last night…I might just go to bed early, I'm actually quite tired."

"Are you sure? I haven't upset you, have I?"

"No, you haven't…don't worry. I'm really tired so I should get an early night. I think my body clock is a mess…"

"Oh, that's right. I forgot about the time difference. Well, goodnight then, Akari."

Akari stood up. "Goodnight."

She left Yukari's bedroom and went to her own, only just realising that she still hadn't unpacked her suitcases, so she spent the rest of the evening making her bedroom a little more homely. Her clothes were finally put away in the wardrobe and drawers and her laptop was set up on her desk. The few books that she'd brought with her were piled up on a shelf on the wall, where she also put a photo album and her camera. One special photo was propped up against her bedside lamp. As she looked at it, she began to find it difficult to keep her eyes open; she took off her clothes, threw them to the floor and quickly put on her pyjamas before getting into bed.

"Good evening," a slow, hauntingly familiar and young-sounding voice said, making Akari jump and wake up just as she was dozing off.

"Huh…? How did you get in here!" she exclaimed, sitting up in her bed. "Are you even real…?"

"I'm always with you. I thought I'd let you know that the end of everything is near. I'm not really sure what it's about, but I just remembered so I came to tell you."

"U-Um…"

"I also noticed that you have an unusual power. It's pretty impressive."

"Y-Yeah…unusual…"

"Do you remember when we first met? I expect you to honour your commitment."

"What commitment…?"

"The contract you signed: '_I chooseth this fate of mine own free will.'_ Remember, I'll always be watching you, even if you forget about me."

Akari swallowed nervously. "H-How?"

The mysterious boy smiled. "Time will eventually reveal the answers to the many questions you are destined to ask…"

Suddenly Akari felt déjà vu. She'd heard him say those words before and didn't bother to ask another question. She merely blinked and the boy disappeared, just like before.

"Am I going crazy…?" she wondered aloud, feeling a little spooked so she hid her whole body under the covers and tried to get back to sleep.

Akari looked around. She was in a huge hall with a large stairway leading to a grand door. To her left there was a familiar purple-blue door. She walked to it apprehensively, unsure of what would be waiting on the other side. Then she remembered Igor and the couple of times she'd actually been in there. It led to the Velvet Room, but what that place actually was, she didn't know and felt too scared to find out…she stopped walking closer and took a few steps back instead, bumping into something. Whatever it was, it must have been in human form because two hands firmly grabbed her shoulders and began to thrust her forwards, towards the door. Akari couldn't say anything, her voice wouldn't come out…she felt her legs moving involuntarily as the two hands pushed her even closer to the door…she thought she was going to hit the door so she closed her eyes as she was about to be rammed into it but there was no impact; instead, her feet found a soft carpet. In shock, she opened her eyes again. This time, she saw the vaguely familiar white-haired man standing tall, many inches higher than her. He was holding the door open and when he noticed her staring at him, he gave her a calm, friendly smile that triggered an onset of déjà vu. She remembered the first time she'd seen him; he'd smiled curiously, in wonder of who she was and why she was being brought to the Velvet Room. Igor must have explained to him since he looked warm and welcoming now. He wore the same blue suit as before with a matching cap and looked at her as though he knew her. This made her realise that last time his expression was in fact in expectation.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, Miss Rose…" he said softly, smiling at her knowingly.

She recognised his voice, somehow…her mind thought hard to where she recognised it from, but it didn't take long; it was during the evening that her housemates had asked her to help them fight Shadows…she'd gone into a daze and heard his voice telling her that her friendships with her housemates had enabled her to hold stronger Personae of the Fool arcana…

Tuesday morning arrived quicker than she thought it would and Akari managed to eat half of an extra slice of toast. Akihiko ate the other half as they left the dorm for school with Yukari. Akari wondered why Mitsuru always left early and on her own, but assumed it was because she was a very busy person.

"Yo, Akari!" Junpei's familiar voice called.

"Good morning, Junpei," Akari greeted with a smile.

Akihiko eyed Junpei carefully. "Morning, Junpei."

Yukari was oblivious to his arrival and continued writing a text message on her phone. The short walk to the lockers was silent and even whilst everyone sorted their belongings out, nobody said a word.

"Hey, Akari-" Akihiko started at the same time as Junpei.

"You first," Junpei said.

"I was going to say, do you need to share a locker today, Akari?" Akihiko asked, pulling out the books he needed.

"Oh, yes please," Akari replied gratefully, standing next to him patiently.

"There was something I had to tell you…" Junpei trailed off, looking at Akihiko. "Wait, I'm not supposed to say anything!"

Akihiko almost gave a look of warning to Junpei. "Hand me your things, Akari."

"Thank you, senpai. Hey, you have to tell me now, Junpei. You can't say that and then not say anything!"

"Sorry!" Junpei apologised, grinning. "You'll find out soon enough."

"Junpei-"

"Hey, you remember that time you slept in class? Well, Mister Nasty Old Ekoda set you homework so you can catch up…I think he gave it to Yuka-chan because you guys live in the same dorm."

"Oh, really? She never mentioned it…"

Akihiko listened to their conversation as he sorted out his locker. Once he was done, he followed them to the second-year lockers and they waited for Junpei to sort himself out.

"Hey, Yuka-chan." Junpei started.

"What is it?" she replied, not looking up from her phone again.

"Who are you texting?"

"What's it to you?"

"Ooh, is it your boyfriend?"

"That's none of your business, Junpei, but to make sure you don't go spreading rumours, I'm texting my friend Hana."

"Where's the proof?"

"I don't need to give you proof! Come on, Akari. Let's leave Junpei behind."

Akari didn't say anything. She wanted to wait for him so he wasn't left behind and needed to at least say goodbye to Akihiko so she didn't feel rude, but Yukari had grabbed her arm and pulled her through the crowd of students.

"See you later, senpai…!" she called, hoping he heard her. Since there was no response, she sighed and assumed he didn't. "Akihiko-senpai is so hard to understand…"

"Tell me about it," Yukari agreed, letting go of Akari's arm now. "Especially since you came here."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember what I said before? He sometimes acts different around you…then the next minute he's back to his usual self. That makes it even harder to understand him."

"Hmm…" Akari wondered quietly as they entered their tutor classroom. Somehow, Junpei had beaten them and was sat at his desk with a smirk on his face. "Junpei? How did you get here first?"

Junpei didn't get time to answer; Miss Toriumi walked in and everyone fell silent. Tutor period went by quickly; before she knew it, lunchtime arrived and she didn't feel hungry. She sat with Yukari and Junpei in their tutor classroom, watching them eat their lunch.

"Aren't you going to eat, Akari?" Yukari asked, opening something that Akari didn't recognise.

"No…I'll make up for it tonight though."

Yukari looked a little worried as she took a bite of a squishy bun. Junpei was tucking into a yakisoba bread hungrily.

"Oh, Yuka-chan," he started, taking another mouthful. "You should tell Akari about her homework."

"Oh my gosh, you're right! I totally forgot! I'm sorry, Akari! Mister Ekoda set you some homework so you can catch up with the rest of the class. We were studying Ise Monogatari, but we've moved on now…"

"Yeah, he set you homework for the class you slept through, plus more for when you were in hospital. You should feel lucky though, we had to listen to him practically lecture us on how nobody understands Classic Lit…I wish I'd slept through it, too. Then again, I'd be screwed since Mister Ekoda would probably punish me."

As Akari was gathering her things in their last lesson, Mitsuru walked into their classroom and came over to them. Every student in the class looked up in surprise; it wasn't normal for her to enter any classroom but her own, so everyone assumed it must be important and whispers spread around the classroom like wildfire.

"I'd like you to meet me on the fourth floor when you get back. There's something important Akihiko needs to tell us," Mitsuru told them quietly.

"Okay," Yukari said, not looking at Mitsuru.

"What's it about?" Akari asked curiously.

"Sorry, I can't discuss it here. It'll have to wait until you get back. See you later."

She was gone as quickly as she'd arrived. Akari stared after her. "That was quick…"

"Yeah, well she's probably got more important things to deal with, like Student Council…"

Junpei's face was grinning and he merely chuckled. "Yuka-chan, did I sense some hostility?"

"I-It's not that I don't like her or anything…" Yukari muttered.

"Well, whatever," Junpei said, still grinning. "I have things to do, so I'll see you guys later."

Both girls said goodbye to Junpei and finished gathering their things. Yukari decided to give Akari a short tour of Paulownia Mall on the way back, since she figured that if what Akihiko needed to tell them was that important, they'd be asked to come home straight away.

"Welcome to Paulownia Mall," Yukari said with a giggle. "This is where most Gekkoukan students come after school, as you can see."

Teenagers wearing the Gekkoukan uniform were casually strolling around the mall. Akari felt as though she was an impostor.

"There's an arcade right here, a cool music shop, a pharmacy next door…then there's the weird antique shop, but it's closed. Up those stairs is a karaoke box, which is always really busy. The police box is self-explanatory…oh, Be Blue V sells cute accessories! Chagall Café has a really good selection of drinks and cakes. Oh look, they're advertising a job-"

Akari took in the large mall. It was shaped in a circle, with shops surrounding half of the walls and a huge fountain stood in the middle. Two smaller fountains were in each corner opposite the shops with water trickling gently. She noticed next to the steps to the karaoke box there was a small alleyway that led to a glowing purple-blue door, but Yukari had gone over to look at the job advertisement in the window of Chagall Café so she quickly made her way over too.

"It's for a maid!" Yukari exclaimed excitedly.

"Maid? Hmm…" Akari wondered. "I should probably apply…I need some sort of income."

"Oh, they'd totally accept you right away!"

"W-What? How do you know?"

"You'd be perfect!"

Akari didn't know whether or not to feel insulted. "I-I suppose…"

"Let's go in and speak to the manager!" Yukari said excitedly, dragging Akari inside. "Excuse me!"

They eased their way through the busy café and came to the counter where a small girl, a little shorter than Yukari was dressed in a sweet black maid outfit that had a really puffy tutu petticoat to make it look fuller. The young girl had a small ribbon around her neck tied in a bow and a silky, white apron to match. It wasn't as frilly as Akari expected it to be, considering she was used to the French-style of maid outfits. Akari wondered if she was going to fall in love with Japanese fashion.

"Good afternoon! My name is Haru! How may I help you?" the young girl asked cheerfully.

"Hi, we're here about the job you have advertised in the window," Yukari told her.

"Oh, I see! I'm afraid there is only one position available, so if the interview is successful, only one of you will be hired-"

"Oh, that's okay! My friend is the one who wants the job."

"Ah…well, then, may I take your name, Miss?"

"A-Akari…Akari Rose," Akari said shyly.

"Thank you very much, Miss Rose! I'll let my manager know you're here and he'll be with you shortly," Haru said, disappearing through the door behind the counter.

Akari stared at the glass counter and was mesmerised by all the delicious-looking desserts.

"They look good, huh?" Yukari asked, staring at them too.

Akari nodded. "I want to try them all."

"I've eaten most of them…their strawberry mousse is my favourite, though."

"I'm not too keen on strawberry…"

"I'm sure the desserts here will taste very different from the ones you're used to. You should give them all a try!"

Akari giggled. "I think I'll have to. Each one looks so yummy."

"Sorry for the wait, Miss Rose!" Haru apologised, appearing behind the counter and bowing low. "Master Riku is on his way!"

"Thanks," Akari said nervously.

"Please don't be nervous, Miss Rose. Master Riku is a very gentle person. He is very kind and understanding," Haru told her.

"Is that so?" a soft male voice wondered curiously.

"Master Riku!" Haru squealed with many girls in unison, as others echoed his name.

Akari met his calm blue eyes and tender smile. "Good afternoon, sir…I-I'm Akari Rose…"

"Good afternoon, Miss Rose. Welcome to Chagall Café. I hear from Haru that you wish to apply for the job I have advertised."

"T-That's correct, sir."

"Then please, follow me to my office and we shall discuss the opportunity."

"I'll just hang around the mall until you're done," Yukari told Akari. "Come and find me when you've finished."

"Okay," Akari said timidly.

"This way please, Miss Rose," Riku said, inviting her with a hand gesture. "Ladies first."

Akari muttered a quiet word of thanks and went through the door that Riku held open for her. She heard Yukari wish her good luck just before the door closed behind her; she was now on her own.

"So, Miss Rose," Riku began as he led the way down a pink and lacy-themed corridor. "Where are you from? It is already clear to me that you are not of Japanese origin."

"That's correct, sir. I'm from England."

"England? Now, that really is something. I have only been twice and unfortunately for business purposes…although my time in England was short, I discovered the wonders of the language and the accent. It's such a beautiful and sophisticated tone…"

She thought about what to say back to that. "Well…t-there's more than one English accent."

"…That sounds interesting. Now that you mention it, I can tell hear in your voice that you are not from London."

"And you would be correct there, sir. I come from a smaller city called Plymouth."

"Plymouth…? I cannot say I have heard of it. Tell me of your city, Miss Rose."

That was the last thing Akari wanted to do. Memories started to cloud her mind, making it harder to focus and tell Riku what he wanted to know…

Riku had stopped in his tracks with his back to her outside a hot pink door at the end of the corridor labelled 'Master Riku' in a shiny, italicised, pastel pink script. Since Akari hadn't replied when he'd requested her to tell him of her hometown, he assumed something was preventing her from doing so he decided to forget about it.

"I'm sorry, sir…I'd rather not…talk about that…" Akari finally admitted.

"I already forgot about it, Miss Rose. Let us move on," he insisted, gesturing for her to enter his office first. "Welcome to my office. You may call me Riku. Please, take a seat."

"T-Thank you, sir…I-I mean, Riku…" Akari stuttered, taking in the surroundings.

If the room had a theme, it would have been 'England'. The carpet was wine-red, just like Mitsuru's hair. All four walls were white, each covered in a photo of an English scene. When Akari happened to look up, the ceiling was the blue of an evening sky and decorated in gently twinkling stars that lit up the room, mesmerising her.

"Do you like the décor?"Riku asked with a chuckle. "I designed it myself. Of course, England was my inspiration."

"I could tell," Akari replied in awe. "I love the ceiling."

"I often get mesmerised by it, so my work can take a while to complete…" Riku admitted. "Now, let us get on with what we are here for, yes? The first thing, and possibly the most important…we must see what see what you look like in our maid outfit."

"W-What…!"

"After that, you may choose a special maid outfit, too."

"…Special?"

Riku motioned towards a rail of maid outfits against the wall. "One of those."

Akari looked at them. There were so many hung together that it was hard to tell what each one looked like, but she could see that each one was uniquely charming in its own way. "They all look so wonderful…"

"They look even better when cute girls like you wear them."

Akari blushed, not able to ask the many questions popping up in her head and wondered where this was going to lead…

Riku chuckled at Akari's embarrassment. "You can change through that door. The Chagall Café maid outfit is already in there. Show me when you have it on, okay? And let me know if you need any help putting it on. Take as long as you need."

She nodded and bowed, hurrying to the door. When she went through and closed it behind her, she took a deep breath and tried to gather herself together. She noticed that it appeared to be a bathroom. A small bamboo fountain was serenely pouring water and occasionally knocking against itself, making a soft knock on wood when it emptied. Even though she'd taken in everything she could see, there was no maid outfit. She turned around and grabbed the door handle, but before she could turn it, she spotted the maid outfit that looked just like Haru's, hanging on the back of the door.

"What have I gotten myself into…?" Akari whispered to herself, letting the handle go and staring at the dress.

Akari began to undress, partly because she realised she had to do it now so she didn't embarrass herself; though wearing it in front of a handsome stranger was embarrassing enough. The other reason was that she secretly wanted to try the maid outfit on because it was so cute; she'd always had a thing for Japanese cosplay and had hoped that one day she'd get to try wearing something like this. With that thought in mind, she wondered if working here would be fun, after all.

Akari nervously cleared her throat, straightening the apron. "I-I'm ready…"

"Then, come on out," Riku coaxed softly. "I am waiting."

She grabbed the handle again and took another deep breath before opening the door. "I-I'm not sure it's quite right-"

"Oh, you look so cute!" Riku exclaimed. "Your accent, too…it all fits…an English maid…"

Akari was blushing furiously and didn't know what to say.

"This is wonderful! I have no need to take this interview any further…that is, if you will take the job."


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you to everyone who has kept reading :) I hope you're enjoying it! I know I'm still enjoying writing it. It's exam season for me right now so writing is the perfect way to take a break from college. It just means I'll write less, but at least I haven't stopped completely.

Anyway, here's the next chapter!

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Eight**

Akari was delighted to hear Riku's words. "Yes, please, Riku! A-Are you sure…?"

"Most definitely, Miss Rose. You fit the role perfectly. Now, let us see here…when can you start?"

"At the moment my schedule is free, apart from school-"

"Wonderful! Is it too much to ask for you to start immediately?"

"If I didn't have an important meeting today I could…but unfortunately the earliest I can start is tomorrow."

"Ah, no, that is fine…that is your dress now, by the way. You can take it with you, or label it and keep it here."

"I think I'll keep it here…I'd feel too embarrassed taking it home or wearing it on the way to work…"

"Your personality fits so well too…so cute…ah, forgive me…I will make sure Haru shows you the ropes tomorrow. Please come straight here after school. I will look forwards to it."

"T-Thank you so much, Riku! I really appreciate this. I'll do my best."

"You're welcome, Miss Rose…oh, one last thing, before you leave. Would you care to try on one of our special maid outfits…?"

Akari felt her cheeks heating up. "Y-Yes…but-"

"Then please, choose whichever one you like."

She didn't know what to do; the job was now hers and she wanted to make a good impression on Riku, but Yukari was waiting…her eyes gazed longingly at the rack of dresses as she felt herself giving in. "All right, then..."

It didn't take her long to spot it…her dream maid outfit. It was pale green with a frilly white apron adorned with an apple. Silky white ribbon tied the apron and there was a matching neck ribbon, too. It also had a huge tutu petticoat, like Haru's, making it very big.

"Yes, that one is rather beautiful," Riku commented. "Please, go ahead and try it on."

Akari silently obeyed and took it to the bathroom. She carefully changed from the simple, black maid outfit and into the special apple-green one. When she took a nervous look in the mirror, she'd instantly fallen in love.

"It's so cute…" she whispered to herself, drifting off into a daydream…

The bathroom door opened to reveal Akihiko standing there. Akari gasped and saw his reflection in the mirror, feeling her cheeks getting warm. Suddenly, he was right behind her and slipped his arms around her waist. He whispered something in her ear, but Akari couldn't tell what he said… the next thing she knew, he was kissing her neck…he nibbled softly, then pulled away and turned her to face him. Her cheeks felt even hotter now, so she stared at the floor to try and hide it. A finger lifted her chin up though and she made eye contact with him. Akihiko gave her the most loving smile she'd ever seen and got extremely close to her lips…their noses were almost touching…

"Miss Rose…? Are you okay? Do you need any help in there?" Riku interrupted.

"U-Um…! N-No, thank you, sir…I-I…I'm just coming…" she stuttered; she shook her head and mentally scolded herself. Why would her mind wander off to thoughts like that about Akihiko! She's only just met him; it's too early for Akari to have developed a crush. Sure, she liked him, but not in that way and her embarrassment was due to lack of experience with guys. A sudden thought crossed her mind and that maybe the 'special' maid outfits had the ability to play with people's thoughts. After all, anything could happen if Personae and Shadows exist.

"You look even cuter in this one…" Riku said softly. "Your boyfriend would be so happy to see you like this, I am sure of it."

"I-I…don't have a boyfriend…"

"What! Oh…that is rather surprising. In that case, I doubt it will be long until you find a special someone…"

"What…?"

"I have just seen you in two maid outfits, so I may be incapable of judging, but…your personality is so pure…you have the personality of the perfect maid…an English maid, at that…trust me, Miss Rose. It will not be long." Riku chuckled. "Well then, Miss Rose…I shall see you tomorrow."

After Akari quickly changed back into her school uniform she said goodbye to Riku, promising to come to Chagall Café as soon as school finished tomorrow. She left the café in a hurry, now trying to find Yukari so she could tell her the news.

"There you are!" Yukari called out, coming out of Be Blue V. "So, how'd it go!"

"Well, I got the job…"

"No way! Congrats, Akari!"

"Thanks…it was a really strange interview…"

"Why?"

"All Riku cared about what was I looked like in a maid outfit," Akari admitted almost inaudibly, feeling her cheeks going pink. "He made me try two different ones on…"

"Of course that's all he cared about, you were applying to be a maid, what else is he going to care about?"

"Yuka-chan!" a girl squealed, interrupting their conversation before Akari could reply.

"Hana-chan!" Yukari said back excitedly. "This is Akari, who I was telling you about earlier."

"Nice to meet you, Akari!" Hana said cheerfully.

"Y-You too, Hana," Akari replied nervously.

"I was just showing Akari around the mall. She just got the job at Chagall Café as a maid!"

"Oh, I'm so jealous!"

"I know, me too! She'll get to wear their cute maid outfit!"

Akari wondered why they were so excited and jealous about her getting the job as a maid at Chagall Café. She felt too shy to interject, so she let them carry on until Hana had to leave. Everyone exchanged goodbyes and Yukari decided to quickly finish showing Akari the mall before heading back. As they left the mall, she found out about Escapade through Yukari's stories about the nightclub and Akari listened earnestly, taking one last glance at the glowing purple-blue door…

Just as they were coming up to the dorm, Yukari stopped. "I just want to say thanks for saying you'll try helping us out."

"I just wish there was something I could have done to stop Akihiko-senpai from breaking his rib…"

"There's no way it could have been prevented. Akihiko-senpai is too stubborn when it comes to fighting. He would have gone out to practise regardless and even if someone was with him, they wouldn't be strong enough to protect him alone."

"I suppose…" Akari trailed off, defeated again.

"Hey, do you remember when Junpei was so eager to find out who I was texting this morning? He always talks about stuff that isn't his business and says everything in the most creepy, perverted way. It's like he's the poster boy for sexual harassment! Last year he came up with this really detailed plan to spy on the girls in gym. He would have gone through with it if I hadn't threatened to tell Mitsuru-senpai…"

Yukari led the way inside. She flumped onto the sofa opposite Akihiko, who looked up as Akari sat down and seemed eager to say something. Mitsuru, however, didn't look up from the book she was reading; not even when Yukari made her presence clear by emitting a big sigh.

"You two sure took your time," Akihiko commented.

"Mitsuru-senpai never said we had to come back straight away," Yukari told him. "So I gave Akari a tour of Paulownia Mall."

"I see. Well, since we're all here now, we can start," he said, pressing a few keys on his phone. "Hey, everyone's here so you can come down now…yeah, even Akari's here. Just come down, we're waiting."

Akari was suddenly really curious since whoever it was had just asked about her. They heard a door close in the distance and footsteps came jogging down the stairs.

"What's up, guys!" a familiar voice said with a chuckle.

"Junpei!" Yukari burst out in disbelief. "What are you doing here!"

"He's the newest member of our club," Akihiko explained.

"You have the potential…? For real?" Yukari asked in incredulity.

"Akihiko-senpai bumped into me the other night after I'd just awakened to my power. He found me outside a corner shop, crying like a baby, surrounded by a bunch of coffins. I don't remember much, but man, it was embarrassing."

"It's normal to be confused and not remember stuff in the beginning, though," Akihiko told him; Akari nodded in agreement.

"The moment I found out about you guys I was shocked, but so glad I'm not the only one! It'd get pretty lonely."

"This also means Junpei will be living here too, with us."

"Are you serious!" Yukari exclaimed.

"It's the most sensible option," Mitsuru told her. "It's vital for all members to be able to communicate with utmost ease."

Just as Junpei was about to speak, someone knocked at the door. Yukari got up quickly to answer it and looked just as surprised to see Shuji standing there with a big grin on his face. After a few minutes of general chatter, in which Akari had stayed silent, Akihiko brought up Junpei's arrival.

"I must thank you for agreeing to help us so suddenly," Shuji said.

"Not at all. When I found out I had a power like this, I thought I should do it justice by using it for its purpose."

"I like your way of thinking, Mister Iori. Considering the number of members of our club has recently jumped to five, I think tonight is the perfect time to commence the exploration of Tartarus."

"Tartarus…? What's that? It sounds like toothpaste."

"Think of it as a Shadow nest," Akihiko told him.

"Nest…? I'm intrigued."

"Yeah, sounds exciting, doesn't it?"

"Akihiko," Mitsuru said in an annoyance. "I appreciate your enthusiasm but you won't be joining us until you're fully healed."

"If it's all right with everyone else, I'd like you to head to Tartarus tonight and see what you can discover," Shuji suggested.

"Certainly," Mitsuru agreed. "The sooner the better."

"I'll stay here as usual, since I can't summon a Persona-"

"And Akihiko," she interjected.

"I cannot force Mister Sanada into anything. I'm afraid it's his decision what he does."

"Surely for the good of his health you can advise him to stay behind with you."

"As the club's advisor, I can advise him to wait until his rib has healed; however, I cannot force him into anything. He is free to make his own choices."

Akari wanted to ask Mitsuru to stop talking about Akihiko as if he wasn't there but had nowhere near enough confidence. She then remembered what he'd told her before; that he'd protect her…meaning he'd risk another injury to save her skin. This made her decide to agree with Mitsuru and feel less guilty about not intervening.

"So where's this 'Tartarus'?" Junpei asked.

"You'll find out when we get there," Akihiko told him.

"Are you all agreed on leaving at the usual time?" Shuji asked.

Mitsuru nodded once and Akihiko merely looked at Shuji eagerly. Yukari's face had an anxious expression and Akari was engrossed in her lap. Junpei looked at them all in turn, looking very confused.

"Akari, you should have lots of snacks tonight," Akihiko told her. "You barely have any energy now and going to Tartarus will drain it completely."

"O-Okay," she agreed. It was as though reality had finally hit her. They were going to Tartarus tonight, a Shadow nest…it had sunk in and she didn't like the thought of it at all.

"Here," Mitsuru said, opening a small, metallic briefcase. "You don't want to go to Tartarus without one of these."

Junpei took the shiny gun without hesitation. "Awesome!"

"It's not a real gun, Junpei," Yukari pointed out, dulling his sense of excitement.

"What do you mean, it isn't real?"

Akari blanked out their words, since she'd already received that information. She tentatively took the second Evoker with trembling hands and examined it.

"Are you okay, Akari?" Akihiko asked quietly, noticing her frightened expression.

"U-Um…it's all sinking in now…reality's hitting me…"

"It'll be okay. I'll be there to protect you."

Her cheeks flushed a little. "S-Senpai…your rib…"

"I don't care."

"Why do you…? U-Um…never mind."

"Why do I what?"

She was silent for a few seconds before getting the courage to ask. "Why do you want to…p-protect me…?"

Akihiko's cheeks blushed lightly. "You're so weak right now. If it was up to me, I wouldn't let you go tonight."

"I-I feel the same way about you, senpai."

"I'm not as weak as you and I know what I'm doing. You won't have a clue when we get there."

"You're right…" she admitted. "But a broken rib is serious. I know from experience, so…please be careful. P-Promise me…"

He was in shock at what he'd just heard. "Experience? You don't mean…?"

"Just be thankful you didn't puncture your lung too, like I did. Please, promise me that you'll be really careful."

"You punctured your…" he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. "I-I promise you I'll be really careful, Akari."

"Thank you," she whispered in relief; her plan to tell him of her experience breaking a rib and puncturing a lung as a result of it had worked. Akari hoped it would make him realise how much worse it can get.

"When did this happen to you?"

"Well, I got out of hospital on my birthday …and I was in hospital for about a month…so if I remember correctly…it happened on New Year's Day."

"Then, I want you to promise me you'll be careful, too. You haven't been out of hospital for that long."

"It's been nearly three months-"

"Since you were in hospital the first time. You collapsed and were in hospital for nine days due to exhaustion since then. Now it makes sense why. Not only did you awaken to your Persona…you'd only just gotten out of hospital after your…accident."

"S-Senpai…you're worrying too much-"

"Promise me, Akari or I'll make you regret it."

"I-I promise, senpai…of course I'll be careful…I'll be too scared to do anything anyway."

"Which means you'll need to stay on your guard even more," he told her, letting out a sigh. "When we get there, just relax and keep eyes in the back of your head. If you panic too much, you might not be able to summon your Persona. You'll still have a weapon though so don't worry too much about that."

Akari listened and took in everything he just said. She also contemplated how she would fight a Shadow and carry two weapons at the same time…then, before she knew it, the Dark Hour was quickly approaching and everyone was getting ready: Mitsuru was polishing her Evoker, Yukari was checking her bow and arrow and Akihiko and Junpei were having an enthusiastic conversation about Tartarus.

Since it was fifteen minutes to midnight, the train they boarded was empty. Akari's plan was to sit by herself, but Akihiko saw her walking to the back of the train so he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight tonight," he told her quietly, dragging her to a seat closer to everyone else. He let go of her arm and motioned for her to take the window seat. "You first."

She silently obeyed and sat down, scooting to the window seat. Akihiko joined her as the train started to move. As the train began to rock gently, it made it hard for Akari to keep her eyes open.

"Hey, wake up," Akihiko whispered, shaking her shoulder gently. "Now's not the time to be sleeping. Did you eat any snacks before we left?"

"N-No…" she admitted sleepily.

Akihiko sighed to himself, realising he was going to have to take care of Akari a lot more than he thought. A part of him didn't mind too much, but the other part wished that she'd be a little more careful and look after herself more. As his thoughts were wandering, he came across the memory of when they first met…that was the first time she'd smiled at him, right before he'd hit into her outside Gekkoukan …he realised he didn't see her smile that much, but that one time stuck in his head since it was the only one he could remember this well. His mind flashed back to the past and to his little sister. He saw her smiling, just as gently as Akari did that day…then he began to dwell in the past, reminiscing solemnly…

"Senpai..?" Akari said quietly, noticing his frown. He didn't seem to notice her small voice, so she gently poked his arm. "Senpai…are you okay?"

Akihiko looked at where she'd poked and then his eyes found hers. "What was that for?"

"S-Sorry…" she apologised, blushing. "You looked troubled so I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I did?" he wondered, sounding a little surprised. "Well, I'm fine…I was just thinking. Oh, look. We're here."

Akari looked out the window. "Why Port Island Station?"

"You'll see," he told her, looking excited now and standing up. "C'mon."

She followed everyone off the train and out of the station. Mitsuru and Akihiko led the way, taking their usual route to school. Akari trailed behind with Yukari and Junpei and all three of them felt as equally confused as each other.

"Now we wait," Mitsuru announced as she stopped outside the familiar gates to Gekkoukan.

"For what?" Junpei asked in doubt.

Nobody had the chance to answer; a dull green haze filtered across them all and engulfed the world in the Dark Hour. A second later, the ground beneath their feet began to shake. Akari, Yukari and Junpei looked at their senpai and then followed their gaze to the school building, which was transforming into a dreadful-looking tower that reached a daunting height.

"W-What the…!" Junpei burst out. "What happened to our school!"

"This is Tartarus," Mitsuru explained. "It's what our school becomes during the Dark Hour. When the Dark Hour ends, our school returns to normal."

"It's just like when a person transmogrifies, except they turn into a coffin," Akihiko said.

"So that's what all the coffins were…" Junpei realised. "But why does our school turn into Tartarus?"

"…We don't know," Mitsuru answered hesitantly.

"But we're hoping that now we might find out; there has to be some kind of clue inside. Mitsuru and I have only gone in to take a peek before, so this will be our first time actually exploring the place," Akihiko said excitedly.

"Akihiko, you won't be joining them," Mitsuru reminded him.

Akihiko glared at her. "…I know it's for the best, Mitsuru, but I have to go with them. I'm the strongest one here-"

"And the weakest with a broken rib," she told him.

"Someone needs to go with them in case they get into trouble. It's too dangerous, especially for Akari."

Akari felt herself blushing. "I-I'll be okay-"

"Akari has proved herself fully capable of defending herself around Shadows," Mitsuru told Akihiko.

"But she's weak right now. She needs someone by her side who can protect her."

"Then that someone shouldn't be you. You're weak yourself."

Akihiko sighed, feeling aggravated. "I'm not weak. I just need to be a little more careful."

"We should decide on a leader to make any necessary decisions," Mitsuru said, ignoring him. "Considering Akari has fought Shadows before, I think she should take the lead in Tartarus tonight."

"What? Seriously?" Junpei said, sounding astounded. "But she's a girl!"

"So? Mitsuru-senpai just told you she's fought them before," Yukari told him. "I vote for Akari, too."

"If you do or say anything condescending just because she's a woman-" Mitsuru started.

"N-No, senpai, that's not it! T-That's not what I meant…" Junpei stuttered.

"I guess it's been decided then," Akihiko said. "Akari, you're in charge."

Akari looked at him with wide eyes. "M-Me…?"

"Yeah, Mitsuru has a point. You fought a huge Shadow before. There's another reason though. You can summon your Persona without any difficulty and without being able to summon a Persona in Tartarus, you're screwed."

"Tch…" Junpei muttered. "He's got a point, too…"

Akihiko grinned. "Let's get going."

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru exclaimed. "Why are you doing this? You'll only be a hindrance-"

"Mitsuru, please…just let it go."

Whilst Akihiko and Mitsuru started to argue, Akari's train of thought began to drift away. She thought about what the inside of Tartarus might look like until she saw a blue glow in the corner of her eye…she turned to face it and saw that familiar purple-blue door. There was one just like it in Paulownia Mall and thanks to one of her dreams, she knew where it led…

Out of nowhere, the old, large key that Igor had given to her appeared and emitted a blue glow, just like the door. It autonomously floated around like a butterfly and slotted into the keyhole, unlocking the door…Akari was suddenly overcome with curiosity and walked over to it. She grabbed the handle, but it turned by itself and she was pulled inside.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, Miss Rose," a familiar, charming voice greeted. "Please, allow me to take your shoes."

A second later, her feet were bare and she could feel the soft carpet. "U-Um…this…is the Velvet Room…?"

"Yes, it is indeed. Please take a seat. Igor expected you to visit us tonight."

"H-He did…?" Akari wondered, nervously sitting down. She was staring at the plush purple carpet the entire time so she wasn't able to see who had welcomed her and felt far too timid to dare and look.

"Ah, Akari. You are here," Igor's familiar voice croaked from a distance. He wandered over from the shadows and took a seat opposite her. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. I see you have met my assistant…"

Akari looked up at Igor and saw him smiling mischievously. Her eyes finally dared to take a look at the body of the other familiar voice; she noticed shiny, smart black shoes and trousers with a blue pinstripe down the sides…she swallowed nervously as her gaze slowly moved upwards. He wore the suit she'd seen before in her dreams…and it certainly did match the theme of the Velvet Room. She didn't want to meet his eyes…she felt far too nervous and could tell that she was already blushing because of the fact that she'd seen him in her dreams…

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Rose…" he said warmly, leaning towards her, ready to take her hand.

She looked at his pale hand and timidly brought her hand closer to it, unsure of what he was going to do. He took her hand gently and the shock of his cold touch surged through her like a strike of lightning; because her hand was so warm compared to his, it shocked his skin too…as a result, their eyes finally met. Akari noticed his intense golden eyes…they were staring into hers in sheer surprise but she too wore the same expression. When she noticed his hand was moulding hers, she looked down to their hands and broke their stare. The young man bent lower and she saw his pure snow-white hair. She felt another shock and a whoosh of butterflies as his soft, icy lips pressed tenderly against the back of her hand.

"I-It's nice to meet you too," Akari stuttered eventually with very warm cheeks.

"My name is Theodore, but you may call me Theo," he told her with a smile to match the slight flirtatiousness in his tone.

Well, Akari assumed he was flirting. Then she realised that her mind was probably jumping to conclusions. She didn't know why she had an instant attraction to him…at least, that's what she thought it was. Why else would she be extremely nervous around him, have bright red cheeks and butterflies in her stomach…?

"Now then," Igor started, smiling playfully. "It is time for me to explain the nature of your power…"

"The nature of my power…?" Akari wondered and took a glance at Theodore, whom was staring at her amiably. "What about that door and this place…?"

"You are the only one who holds the key to the Velvet Room; thus, you are the only one who can see the door and enter."

"So…my friends can't see it? What happens whilst I'm in here? Am I out there too?"

Theodore chuckled. "It's a mystery."

"Indeed," Igor agreed. "Now, what was I saying…? Oh, yes. The nature of your power…it is unique, like the number zero. You are able to hold multiple Personae in your soul and assign different ones to help you when needed to fight Shadows… you and the power of your Personae will grow accordingly as your friendship bonds increase, as I mentioned before…and I am here to help you along the way. However, saying that, my spare time will soon be scarce. That is why I introduced you to my assistant. He will aid you well when I am not here…"

"I will do my utmost best," Theodore promised with a sincere smile and a hand on his heart.

"U-Um…" Akari stuttered, unsure what to say. "H-Heh…me too…?"

"I'm sure you will," he said, almost in a seductive tone.

Or maybe it was Akari's imagination. Her mind was wandering and she accidentally spoke her thoughts aloud. "Why…is this happening to me…?"

"Life just happens," Theodore told her softly. "Deep inside I feel something faint yet strong…but I'm not quite sure what it is. One day, I will find out…fate will show me."

"How do you know?"

"Well… this feeling became more powerful when you entered the room and as fate brought you here, it must be more than a coincidence…don't you agree?"

Akari blushed furiously. "I-I don't think that's it…"

"Oh, really?" he said in surprise. "Well, one day we shall find out."

"Unfortunately our time together has come to an end," Igor interrupted. "It is time to say farewell for now…until next time…"

"I'll look forwards to our next meeting," Theodore told her with a teasing smile.

The butterflies returned to Akari's stomach. "H-Heh, me too…it was really nice to meet you, T-Theo…"

His pupils dilated when he heard her say his name. "The pleasure was all mine…take care, Miss Rose."

Akari blinked; the stairway to the labyrinth of Tartarus stood before her. The Velvet Room had disappeared…or she'd just teleported. Whatever it was, Akari had been brought back to reality…even though her life felt like a very strange dream these days anyway…but it at least felt more realistic than visiting the Velvet Room for the first time in real life.

"H-Hey, Akihiko-senpai…Akari's zoning out over here…" Junpei's faint voice called out.

Footsteps rushed closer to her. "Akari! Snap out of it!"

Akari could hear voices, but she merely stared into space, unable to respond. A hand waved across her face and someone snapped their fingers a few times…

"Ngh…?" Akari muttered, feeling a little dazed. "What…?"

"Are you okay!" Akihiko asked frantically.

Akari nodded, but it hurt her head. "Of course…"

"She looked like a zombie, senpai," Junpei said.

"A zombie…?" Akihiko repeated. "Tch…I literally turned my back for ten seconds and let this happen!"

"What is it, Akihiko?" Mitsuru asked urgently.

"I don't know, but it was as if Akari had become one of the Lost for a minute."

"I…" Akari began quietly. "I…saw this door…and I went inside…"

"What are you talking about?" Akihiko questioned, sounding very worried now. "What door?"

"I-It's right there…" Akari pointed to her left, where the door to the Velvet Room glowed.

"I don't see a door," he told her.

"Me either," Junpei said. "But if Akari's tired then maybe I should be the leader instead and prove that I should be in charge-"

"I'm okay, Junpei…" she told him softly. "I just…went into a daze…it seems I started daydreaming."

"Well if it happens again, I've got you covered," Junpei told her confidently.

Akari felt someone grab her hand and drag her towards the stairs. "A-Akihiko…? What are you doing?"

Akihiko made sure they were out of earshot of everyone else before he spoke in a low voice. "I want you to tell me the truth. What happened?"

"I-I don't really know…you and Mitsuru started arguing and I went into a daze…then this door appeared and I went inside. I met Igor's assistant and Igor told me about my power. He also said that as my friendships with everyone grow stronger, my Personae will, too."

"Personae…?" Akihiko repeated, sounding unsure. "As in more than one?"

"Yes, that's what he said. Apparently I can hold more than one inside me and as I fight Shadows I'll obtain different Personae to help me."

He looked worried and rubbed his chin. "Hmm…let's see how today goes. Stay close to me and don't try anything you don't think you can handle. I'll be the eyes in the back of your head for now, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be careful."

Akari nodded to show she understood. "S-Senpai…"

"Mhm?"

"I-I…"

"It's alright, you can tell me."

"I…I'm scared."

"That's okay. Just try to remember what we're fighting for. I believe in you."

"How can you believe in me? You barely know me."

"Remember the time you saved Yukari's life? That's why I believe in you. I know you have the will to fight and if you put your mind to it, you're strong enough to fight Shadows."

She knew it was true, but it didn't help her feel any less scared. "Maybe, but I'm still scared…"

"Akihiko, Akari, what are you doing? We need to hurry and do what we came here to do before the Dark Hour ends," came Mitsuru's impatient voice.

"Sorry," Akihiko said a little coldly. "Akari needed a little encouragement."

"Very well," she replied back in an equally irritated voice. "Whenever you're ready, let us know."

"We're done already. Let's go."

Akari watched Akihiko rush up the long staircase two steps at a time and reluctantly followed. She heard Yukari's and Junpei's footsteps close behind her and they all stopped outside the large golden door that was the entrance to the Shadow's nest. Akihiko pulled it open and revealed the inside of Tartarus, taking the first step inside. Akari was the next one to enter and she looked around in awe at their surroundings. There was a long corridor ahead. The walls were vibrantly green; Akari wasn't sure if it was due to the Dark Hour, since everything was engulfed in an eerie green haze anyway. The floor was adorned with black and white chequered tiles, a few of which were cracked or covered in large blood stains or puddles…

Suddenly there was a loud thump. Everyone gasped except for Yukari, who let out a little girly scream. They all looked around to see what the noise was until Akihiko quickly noticed Akari lying on the ground.

"What happened!" Mitsuru's digitalised voice came from nowhere.

"It's Akari," Akihiko told her. "She's collapsed!"

"Bring her out right away-"

"Ngh…" Akari muttered.

"She's okay," he told Mitsuru. "Here, let me help you up."

She took his hands and he lifted her up carefully, hiding the pain he felt in his rib. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome. Stay behind me, okay?"

Akari nodded and took quick little steps as he started to make his way down the corridor. A minute later, they came to a fork. Akihiko turned left and they all spotted something crawling in the distance.

"Can you all hear me?" Mitsuru asked. Choruses of affirmation echoed between them. Mitsuru told everyone a bit about her Persona, Penthesilea and that she was able to locate Shadows within a short distance. She also told them that the layout of Tartarus changes day to day, so even though she can memorise the map for that night, it's useless the next and this is why she will be their outside support. "I detect a Shadow very close to you all. Please proceed with caution."

"Already spotted it," Akihiko told her, looking over his shoulder. "I'll come into battle with you guys, but I won't make a move unless it's absolutely necessary."

Akari's eyes were wide as he stared at her. "B-But-"

"Let me at it," Junpei interrupted, charging past them and towards the Shadow. "Rawr…!"

"J-Junpei…!" Yukari exclaimed, rushing after him.

The pair of them were quickly absorbed by the Shadow. Akari gasped and reached her hand out towards them sorrowfully, but Akihiko took it and pulled her towards the enemy.

It was a strange feeling; first, darkness surrounded her as Akihiko let her hand go. Then the cloud of darkness disappeared and revealed the bizarre-looking Shadow. It was a black blob with two arms and a head adorned with a sky blue mask. It moved weirdly and stretched out towards Junpei and Yukari as they were attacking it with their weapons ferociously, clearly too panicked to summon their Personae.

"Akari, use your Persona!" Akihiko urged from behind her.

"U-Um-" she muttered, gripping the Evoker tightly. She held it to her head with trembling hands and felt herself autonomously pull the trigger. "Per…so…na…"

"Junpei, Yukari, step back!" Akihiko advised.

They obeyed him quickly, allowing Akari's Persona take on the Shadow. Orpheus strummed its harp and out of nowhere flames engulfed the enemy, discovering its weakness to fire and thus burnt it into a wisp of red smoke.

"Whoa…" Yukari muttered in awe.

"That was pretty impressive," Junpei commented.

"What…?" Akari wondered, feeling confused about what she just did.

"The way you just defeated that Shadow was cool," Junpei clarified. "Hey, you know what would be funny? If we were outside our classroom right now."

Akihiko looked satisfied as he turned away and continued down the dark corridor. Akari hurried to follow him and kept close, staying behind him in fear. "Nicely done just now."

"T-Thanks," Akari said timidly, tightening her grip on the naginata.

"I was right to believe in you," he said quietly, slowing his pace a little.

"Maybe, but I didn't feel in control of myself at all-"

"That takes time to get used to. After a while you start to feel the satisfaction."

By the time they'd fought a few more Shadows just like the first one, Akari hadn't felt any satisfaction and Mitsuru informed them that they should return to the entrance as soon as possible, since the Dark Hour was due to end soon.

"H-Hey, what's that?" Junpei wondered, pointing to a lime-green glow in the distance.

"I believe that's the temporary teleporter," Mitsuru told him.

"You guys go first," Akihiko ordered. "I'll go last."

"How does it work…?" Yukari asked with trepidation.

"Just step onto it and you'll be teleported back to the entrance," Mitsuru explained. "It also works with two people at a time."

"In that case, you can go with Junpei and I'll go with Akari," Akihiko told her. "Just to be safe."

"W-What!" Yukari said, outraged. "I have to go with him?"

"Well, I can't complain," Junpei smirked.

"At least I only have to be inappropriately close to you for less than five seconds."

"Inappropriately close? You're making it sound even better-"

"Just be quiet and let's get this over with," Yukari said irritably.

Junpei stepped onto the glowing platform and smirked gleefully. Yukari closed her eyes and stepped on it too; there was just enough room for them both and their bodies were definitely touching. Akari watched as the lime-green light beamed them into nothingness and tried her best not to get embarrassed at the thought of being that close to Akihiko…

"C'mon, we'd better hurry," Akihiko said, walking towards the temporary teleporter.

Akari looked a little anxious and followed him. "Is that thing safe…?"

"Of course it is. Come here," he assured her, stepping on it and holding out his hand.

She reluctantly took it, just wanting to get out of Tartarus. He pulled her close to him and it almost felt as if they were embracing; he held her securely so she was inside the teleporter and her face was practically buried in his chest. She let out a sigh of exhaustion, forced to take in his cologne as she breathed. The moment didn't last very long, just like Yukari had said. It was less than five seconds…five seconds wasn't long enough; she wanted to collapse right then and there.

"You two looked as though you actually enjoyed it," Junpei started, surprised at their closeness.

"I was making sure she was safe," Akihiko interrupted, letting Akari go quickly.

Akari walked over to everyone else and stood next to Yukari, too tired to feel embarrassed. "I-I'm just so tired…"

"That's the effect of the Dark Hour…you'll become fatigued more easily. Normally you'd be in bed by now, so it's bound to wear you out this quickly," Mitsuru told her.

"Yeah, it'll take time to get used to…even I haven't adapted completely," Akihiko agreed.

"How was it in there?" Mitsuru asked.

"Man, it was exhausting!" Junpei exclaimed.

"That's because you were bouncing around like a little kid," Yukari told him patronisingly, still catching her breath a little.

"H-Hey, I resent that!" he said in indignation. "But I'm so exhausted that my stomach hurts…it was worth it though! My power was so awesome, too…"

Mitsuru chuckled. "You'll adapt. Well done everyone. With the way you fought tonight, you'll catch up to Akihiko in no time."

"Heh, we'll see about that," Akihiko said challengingly.

Akari heard less and less of their conversation as she went into a daze whilst staring at the door to the Velvet Room…it was as though she was drifting away from the world again, just like that time before…that feeling of power swelled inside her chest…


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for reading and reviewing~

Here is the next chapter!

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Nine**

"Master Akari Rose…" Theodore's familiar, calming voice called out softly. "This is the second step in your new found friendships amongst your housemates. As you become closer to them, the power of the Fool arcana will grow inside of you, enabling the ability to hold stronger Personae of that arcana…well then, good luck, Miss Rose…"

"Theo…?" Akari called aloud, not realising it.

"Huh?" Akihiko wondered.

"What did you say, Akari?" Junpei questioned with raised eyebrows.

The feeling of power subsided and Akari blinked a few times. "What are you talking about?"

"I swear you just said 'Theo'," Junpei told her.

Akari's cheeks went a little pink. "O-Oh…I was probably just daydreaming…"

Akihiko looked at her a little suspiciously. Junpei raised his eyebrows, looking doubtful too but shrugged it off and stretched.

"We'd better make haste and get back to the dorm," Mitsuru reminded them.

Everyone gathered their things and followed her through the exit of Tartarus. As they reached Port Island Station, the green haze began to fade along with the Dark Hour, bringing a relatively more normal atmosphere to the city. Akihiko seemed to be okay with Akari taking a seat at the back of the train next to Yukari this time. He sat down near the sliding train doors next to Junpei, who'd sat opposite Mitsuru.

"Why is she always like that…?" Yukari muttered under her breath, looking a little annoyed as she glanced across at Mitsuru's serious expression.

"What do you mean?" Akari whispered, following her gaze.

"I don't know…I just wonder how much she really understands us."

Akari didn't know what to say, since she didn't know anyone here well enough to make that kind of judgement. Instead, she took a glimpse at Akihiko, who happened to turn his head towards her at that very same moment. She gave him a nervous smile and quickly looked out of the window.

"Well I think I'm off to bed," Yukari told everyone, stifling a yawn as they arrived back at the dorm.

"Sounds like a plan," Junpei agreed. "But first, I'm going to stuff my face. I'm starving."

"You should at least have a snack, Akari," Akihiko reminded her, heading over to the kitchenette.

"I feel too sick to eat anything right now…I think I'll just go to bed too…"

Akihiko bent down and ignored her as he opened a cupboard. "You guys did a great job today. You won't have to carry the burden of being the leader for much longer either, Akari…tch…if only I hadn't gotten injured…"

Something hit Akari in the chest and fell to the floor. She blinked and looked down to see a small packet of green mochi. "T-Thank you…heh…green is my favourite colour."

Akihiko smiled. "You were supposed to catch that by the way."

Akari giggled. "I wouldn't have been able to even if I knew you were going to throw it to me."

"So it's true that girls can't catch," Junpei said with a smirk, looking extremely pleased.

"Why does that make you so happy?" Akari questioned, noticing Junpei's expression.

"Oh, I'm just in a good mood today, that's all."

"What are you doing?" Akihiko asked with a frown as Akari was sniffing the bite-sized mochi.

Akari blushed. "I-I was trying to tell what flavour it was…not that can since the flavours are so different from what I'm used to back home…"

"You could have just asked me."

Akari felt embarrassed and silently ate the mochi. As she began to chew, her expression changed…she looked unsure if she should continue eating or not.

"Heh, don't you like it?" Junpei wondered, watching her in amusement.

She swallowed it and frowned. "It's more the texture than the flavour…I don't know. C-Can I…u-um…"

"What is it?" Akihiko asked.

"Can I try another one, please?"

"Of course. Here," he said, grabbing another one and throwing it to her, hitting her squarely in the chest again.

"T-Thank you…"

Akihiko took a small box from the fridge. Akari watched him open it and inside there were three small brown balls accompanied by a little pot of sauce. He put them in the microwave and waited patiently, watching them turn on the plate.

"But I got here first," Junpei complained as his stomach rumbled at the smell of whatever Akihiko was cooking.

Akihiko chose to ignore him as the microwave pinged to alert him it was done cooking. He took the box out and walked over to the dining table where Akari was still watching him interestedly, struggling to open her packet of mochi at the same time.

"Want me to open that?" he asked.

Akari nodded and handed it to him. "Thank you, senpai."

He took a glance at her as she gave him the packet, giving her a look of warning. "Why don't you sit down?"

She could smell his food. It made her stomach grumble, making her realise how hungry she actually was. After sitting down, her stomach grumbled again, making her embarrassment resurface.

"I said you should have eaten snacks before we went," he said with a sigh. "Want one of these?"

Akari eyed them a little warily. "What are they?"

"It's hard to describe. Just try one."

She carefully took one and bit into it. "Wow, it's good!"

"It's even better with the sauce."

"I disagree," Junpei interrupted. "Takoyaki is better when you can taste the octopus."

Akari suddenly started choking. "O-Octopus…!"

"Yeah," Junpei said. "Didn't you know?"

She shook her head and swallowed. "No…well, it's good…"

"You seem surprised," Akihiko noted.

"Well…we don't really eat octopus in England…so it's a bit strange to find out that it tastes nice. Plus, I don't really like fish. Not that I've really had anything but cod…"

"England sounds really deprived from good food," Junpei commented.

"It is. Even I find English food boring," Akari admitted. "But I love Sunday roasts."

"Sunday roasts…?" Junpei and Akihiko asked in unison.

"It's the same as what I made for everyone yesterday, but in England they're traditionally cooked on Sundays."

"That explains everything," Junpei said conclusively.

Akari nodded with closed eyes and smiled cheerfully. "Well I think I'm going to go to bed now…I'm exhausted."

"You've only eaten two pieces of mochi-" Akihiko started.

"Then I'll make up for it at breakfast tomorrow," she replied, still smiling. "Goodnight!"

Akihiko wasn't sure how to respond since he was worried about her eating habits, so he only managed to say goodnight and watch Akari disappear up the stairs.

"Heh heh…" Junpei chuckled. "You like her."

Akari heard Junpei's faint voice as she turned to go up the next staircase, but couldn't understand what he was saying. She was overcome with extreme tiredness so she didn't bother trying to eavesdrop and headed straight to her bedroom. Once her head hit the pillow, she drifted away to the land of nod, only to be whooshed through that familiar purple-blue door…

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, Miss Rose," Theodore greeted with a smile. "Please, allow me to take your shoes."

"Theo…?" Akari wondered drowsily.

He chuckled. "Yes, it's me. However, it's Igor who requested your presence tonight."

The Velvet Room was the same as she remembered, with a dim glow and everything following the blue and purple theme, including Theodore's uniform.

Theodore watched her looking around the room. "Is there anything I can do for you whilst we await Igor's arrival?"

"I-I don't think so," Akari stammered, giving him a nervous smile.

He looked at her inquisitively. "Very well. Please let me know if I can be of service."

She blushed a little at his words. "Service…heh…maybe you can help me with my homework then."

"'Homework'…? I see... we must get it out of the way so you have enough time for Tartarus. What does it involve?"

Akari finally met his eyes. They were mesmerizingly golden today and staring at her in curiosity…she stared back in surprise at their vibrant colour.

"Miss Rose?" Theodore said, looking a little worried. "Is something wrong?"

"O-Oh, no, nothing's wrong…" she told him, noticing a few similarities between him and Akihiko. "You just… remind me of a friend…"

"Me?" Theodore wondered incredulously. "How interesting."

"Interesting…?"

"Yes…I can't imagine there being anyone else quite like me."

Akari was slightly taken aback. "U-Um…well, for starters you have the same hair colour…which is a rare and beautiful shade, I admit…"

Theodore felt something in his stomach as his cheeks started to heat up. He frowned and wondered what this feeling was, but cleared his throat and shrugged it off, remembering he had a guest to entertain whilst Igor was on his way.

"Just then, though…when you asked if something was wrong…you reminded me of him, too."

"I see," Theodore said with a smile, not daring to intrude and ask who 'he' was. "I cannot deny that I am intrigued, however, I believe my curiosity will have to be satisfied another time."

"I don't mind telling you now-" she started as Igor emerged from the shadows.

"Good evening, Akari. I see that you are getting on well with my assistant," Igor said with his usual mischievous grin.

A nervous smile reappeared upon Akari's face. "Yes…he's an interesting person …"

"Interesting indeed," Igor agreed.

She took a glance at Theodore and gave him a smile. He returned the gesture warmly before they both looked back at Igor. "I don't understand how I come here in my dreams…and how I came here in reality…you said this was a dream before, but then you said I'd come here on my own accord, which in a way I did…I suppose what I'm trying to ask is…is this real?"

"I understand your concern, but I can assure you that this is all very real. You, me and my assistant, here…the Velvet Room, too…is all real," Igor told her with the same smile on his face.

Because of his grin she didn't want to believe him. "O-Okay…"

"Now then, the reason I summoned you here tonight was to talk to a little more about the power of Personae. I have already explained my role to you, so I need not explain it again. However, your power is unique…you can hold multiple Personae inside of your soul and summon them at will to help you in battle. It is such a wonder to have a guest with this ability. I believe you hold approximately one hundred and seventy Personae. We have never had a guest with so many possibilities…having said that, you are technically my assistant's first guest. His sisters played his role before you arrived."

Akari found herself even more curious about Theodore. "Sisters?"

"Yes," Theodore told her. "I am the youngest of the three of us."

She wanted to know how old he was if he was the youngest since he looked more mature than her, yet still very young but realised it would be rude to ask.

"Unfortunately our time together must come to an end," Igor told her abruptly.

"But…I want to talk more…with Theo…" she admitted shyly, looking at her feet.

Theodore's heart skipped a beat. "As much as I relished your company, it is sadly time to part."

Akari felt a little rejected even though Theodore had just told her he enjoyed her visit. "W-Why do I have to go?"

"We must not keep you here for long…you are sleeping in your world right now, yes?" Igor said.

Akari nodded. "If that's true, then it would make sense for me to be able to stay longer since nobody would notice anything. The last few times I came here I went into a daze and my friends got worried."

Theodore looked a little surprised, sensing her eagerness to stay. "That does make sense."

For the first time, Akari saw Igor's mischievous grin falter. "Let me explain something to you, Akari. You are sleeping right now in your world, but because you are here in this world you are not really asleep. It is as though you are merely a mirage to anyone who sees you back in your world when you are here."

She understood, but wasn't sure what he was getting at. "What does that mean? Why is it so bad? Nobody will see me when I'm asleep…and my friends have already seen me when I was a 'mirage'."

"I think what Igor is trying to say is that you won't be getting enough sleep whilst you're here, since you're technically not asleep; your image is just a mirage in your world right now," Theodore explained. Akari was about to talk again, but he cut her off. "If you don't get enough sleep, you'll find it harder to function tomorrow, no?"

Akari was defeated by Theodore this time. "Y-You're right…I'm sorry…"

"However, that being said, I don't mind taking care of Miss Rose tonight," Theodore said.

"Very well," Igor said, looking as though he knew what Theodore had planned. "Then, I will bid you goodnight, Akari. Please come and visit again when I can be of assistance to you in fusing Personae. Until we meet again…"

"O-Of course…um…goodnight, Igor…" she said, feeling confused.

"Please, follow me," Theodore said, looking at her cheerfully.

Akari gave him a nod and he turned around, heading to one of the doors at the side of the room. She began to follow him until he stopped outside.

"This will be your room for tonight," he told her as he turned the handle. "I hope you will find it suitable enough."

"I'm sure it'll be fine-" she began, but paused as she saw the interior.

The carpet and walls were the same as the main part of the Velvet Room, but a large, king-sized four-poster bed adorned with a silken purple throw and matching curtains stood out from everything else in there. When Akari had stopped staring at it, she realised that there was a beautiful desk with a mirror attached, next to which there was a chiselled mahogany door. She was curious to where it led, but didn't want to impose. On the other side of the bed, there was an extremely comfy-looking armchair in a slightly deeper purple than the throw on the bed. It sat in the corner next to the large, moonlit window; Akari noticed the view out of it was incredibly scenic. A giant, serene lake was in the far distance and a few woodland trees bordered it. The greenery closer in view was filled with arrays of daisies and fireflies. She could hardly believe her eyes…especially when she noticed the sky.

"A-Are you sure it's okay for me to stay in here…?"

"Of course it is," Theodore replied, silently closing the door. "The view outside is particularly beautiful tonight, isn't it?"

"Mmm…it is…" Akari murmured, standing by the window now.

Theodore walked over to her. "So, is this room satisfactory?"

"It's beyond that…"

He chuckled at her response. "I see…I'm glad it meets your expectations. I had a pair of pyjamas sent to the bathroom, so feel free to…make yourself at home."

She didn't take her eyes away from the outdoor scenery as her cheeks got warm. "T-Thank you…um…do you want me to change now…?"

"That's your choice, Miss Rose…you are the guest. Do whatever you wish."

"Okay…I'll be quick…" she told him, walking around the bed to the door.

"Take your time. We have all night," Theodore told her, sitting in the armchair.

Akari's cheeks couldn't help but burn brighter, but she hoped it wasn't noticeable in the dim light and disappeared into the bathroom. After closing the door behind her, she took in the elegant bathroom. Everything matched the Velvet Room theme and was purple, blue or mahogany. She found the pyjamas Theodore had mentioned hanging on the rail by the bath and they looked just the right size for her. She grabbed them and held them up…only to discover it was a short, silky nightdress. It barely reached her knees…Akari's cheeks didn't cease to blush, even as she frantically searched for a dressing gown. It was tempting to ask Theodore to get one, but she felt rude to ask since he was already attaining to her every need and beyond merely by allowing her to stay in such a luxurious bedroom.

Theodore heard the door handle turn, but the door barely opened. He rested his chin on a single finger and wore a curious smile as he waited. "Miss Rose?"

"Y-Yes…?"

"Is everything all right?"

"U-Um…" she whispered, pulling the door wide open. She saw Theodore's eyes widen in surprise, making her blushing cheeks worse.

"M-Miss Rose…" he murmured, stumbling on her name. "I…wasn't expecting such a revealing piece of clothing…"

"I-I'm sorry…I couldn't find a dressing gown, so…u-um…I'll change back-"

"No," Theodore told her, knowing exactly which one of his sisters put the nightdress in there instead of pyjamas. "If that's what was there, then feel free to wear it. Why don't you come to bed?"

Akari obeyed him and walked over to the bed. She climbed into it and slipped on the covers, sprawling onto her face.

"Here, allow me-" Theodore said, standing up quickly and leaning towards her. His cheeks began to burn up and he made a mental not e to have a word with his sister about this, but since he was determined to fulfil his duties as her assistant and help however he can when his aid is required, he lifted her limp form from behind. "You're so light…hmm, fifty-four kilograms…? You're almost underweight."

"H-How do you know my weight!" Akari wondered in shock.

"Now that would be telling," he told her, acting proud. "However, on a serious note, it would make me worry if you continued to remain almost underweight, especially as our valued guest."

"I can't eat more than I do…" she told him quietly. "I have a small stomach…"

"That's not surprising, considering your weight. Hmm…wait, what am I saying? As long as you eat sensibly and make sure you have three meals a day, there's not much more you can do," he said thoughtfully, putting Akari down.

She quickly brushed the nightdress down, even though it couldn't stretch; it didn't stop her trying anyway.

"There's no need for that," Theodore told her, smiling playfully.

"W-What? Why not?" Akari asked, blushing furiously.

He simply walked to the side of the bed and pulled the throw off. "You can hide now. That's what you planned on doing, no?"

Akari threw herself onto the bed immediately and Theodore watched her curiously as she desperately struggled to pull the covers over her. He decided to help her and lifted the quilt. She darted under it, making sure only her head was visible.

"It's a shame," he told her, making sure she was tucked in.

"What is?" she asked, feeling much better now she was under the covers.

"That you feel the need to hide yourself from me."

She noticed he looked a little sad. "I'm sorry…I get embarrassed easily…"

"Don't apologise. Forget about it and relax. You should try and get some sleep."

Now that Theodore mentioned it, she did feel sleepier than a few minutes ago…perhaps because of how warm and snug the bed was. Akari blinked lazily, feeling herself drifting away, but she didn't want to. She wanted to stay awake and live this dream, she wanted to get to know Theodore…

Akari opened her eyes. She gasped when she saw Theodore sat on the bed, overlooking her in a white vest top and loose pyjama bottoms. His hat was gone too, allowing her to fully see his snow-white hair that looked so bright in the moonlight. She wondered how long she'd been asleep…

"T-Theo…" she whispered.

"It's okay Akari-sama," he murmured softly, staring at her with his golden eyes.

"Sama...?"

"Think of it as a way of showing respect for a princess," he explained, stroking her silky hair.

"A…p-princess! But I'm not-"

"Hush now, carry on sleeping…"

"Theo…I want…to…ngh…the elevator…"

"Elevator…?"

Akari had fallen back into a peaceful sleep because of the serene atmosphere. Theodore watched her with a gentle smile and continued stroking her hair soothingly.

The next morning, Akari felt as though she had a very strange dream. By the time she finished mulling it over whilst eating breakfast, she realised it wasn't a dream at all…

"Things have been real crazy these past couple days," Akihiko said as they boarded the train. "Are you coping…?"

"Just about," Akari replied, turning to face him with a smile. "After reality hit me last night it was overwhelming, but it's strange because at the same time it feels like a dream."

He smiled back. "It does a bit, doesn't it? …Are you all right, though?"

"What, right now?"

"Well, yeah…and in general."

"Of course I am."

"Good…it's just that lately you've been looking confused."

"Well, I am…"

"I noticed. It's understandable though, especially since you've just transferred from England. You'd be crazy not to be. I just wish I could take your place as leader…then you wouldn't have to deal with it. This damn injury is causing me more boredom than it's worth."

"I wish you could take my place too," she admitted quietly. "I feel really selfish for saying that…"

"You shouldn't. Anyway, the way you fought last night was impressive…even if you did have a little guidance from me."

Akari giggled. "It was all thanks to you."

"You should laugh more often."

Akari blushed a little. "It's been hard lately…"

"I understand that. I was just saying. Laughing is healthy."

She nodded. "True. I could say the same to you though. I think I've only heard you laugh once."

Akihiko turned serious and looked into his lap. "I'm sorry."

They arrived at the school about a minute later. Akihiko told Akari about a special assembly and led the way to the hall where Mitsuru was waiting on the stage ready to make her first speech as Student Council president.

"Yo," Junpei greeted, sitting on the other side of Akari. "What's up?"

"I was just saying to Akihiko-senpai that I'd heard Mitsuru-senpai is the most popular girl in school."

"Oh, yeah. It's almost like there's some kind of aura around her…that and Gekkoukan's owned by the Kirijo Group."

"Kirijo Group?"

"That's her family's company. I wouldn't be surprised if they had something to do with her getting elected as Student Council president. Nobody else came close to beating her."

Once Mitsuru had finished her inspirational speech, everyone applauded and she left the stage. Junpei looked confused and shook his head. "Hey, did you understand what she was talking about?"

Akari nodded. "Of course I did!"

"Seriously? Wow, you're smart…it didn't sound like something a student in high school would say. If it was anyone else, I'd have burst out laughing…"

A regular school morning passed by. Soon enough it was afternoon and Miss Toriumi began their lesson on Meiji-era literature. She got bored quickly since she'd just gone over it in the class she taught prior to theirs so instead she decided to read them a poem instead. After reading the first line, Miss Toriumi noticed a student had fallen asleep and for once it wasn't Junpei.

"Kenji, you'd better not be sleeping back there!" she scolded. "I expect you to listen whilst I'm pouring my heart out into reading this poem. I'm giving you an extra essay along with your assignment. I also expect a slice of cake when you hand it in, too! Don't be cheap and get some from the supermarket like last time, either!"

After their final class, Akari automatically walked out with Junpei. As they were about to go down the staircase, a short girl with straight, dark brown shoulder-length hair stopped them.

"Hey, you're the transfer student who moved into the same dorm as Akihiko-senpai, right?" she asked nosily.

"Y-Yes…" Akari admitted nervously, wondering where this was going.

"I've always wanted to talk to you. Can you tell me all about Akihiko-senpai's favourite food, type of girl, how he spends his days off school-"

"She doesn't need to tell you that," Junpei interrupted, grasping Akari's shoulders. "Bye-bye."

Junpei guided Akari away from the girl, who looked appalled as they disappeared down the stairs. Once they reached the entrance hall, Junpei let out a sigh of relief and went over to his locker.

"Thanks for that, Junpei…" Akari said gratefully.

"Heh, no problem," he said, grabbing his things. "You still seem pretty nervous, you okay?"

"Oh…sorry, it's just I start my part-time job today…"she trailed off.

"Ooh, where?" he asked as they exited the building.

Akari felt herself blushing and felt embarrassed to tell him. "Um…Chagall Café…"

Junpei gasped. "As…a maid!"

"Y-Yeah…"

He swallowed nervously and his cheeks began to burn. "Wow…heh…"

Suddenly a high-pitched girly squeal hit their ears, leaving Akari no time to think on Junpei's embarrassment. They both looked straight ahead to see a commotion at the school gates. A group of girls were swarming Akihiko, squealing excitedly and talking at him non-stop. "It's Akihiko-senpai!"

Junpei grinned. "Seems like our senpai needs a little help. C'mon Akari. Let's go save him."

Akihiko sighed and looked extremely annoyed. Akari felt too shy to intervene, especially with the glares she was receiving.

Junpei dragged her over to the scene and cleared his throat. "Hey, senpai."

"Oh, it's you guys, thank goodness," Akihiko said, sounding very relieved. "Are you two free this afternoon?"

"Us…? Uh, yeah…why?"

"Great. There's someone I want to introduce you to."

"U-Um...I…actually-" Akari started.

"Let's get going," Akihiko interrupted, walking away from the girls.

"Hey, aren't your friends coming, too?" Junpei asked hopefully.

"Friends…? Oh, you mean these girls? I don't even know their names. They just came up to me and started talking so much that it gave me a headache."

Junpei sighed. "Man, how can you not be interested? Just look at them…"

One of the girls sighed loudly as he continued walking away. "Why can't he be more friendly!"

"S-Senpai…" Akari said timidly. "I have to be somewhere…"

"Oh, that's right," Junpei remembered. "Akari starts work at Chagall Café today. I didn't realise you had to be there now."

"We're heading that way anyway. But you have a job?" he asked, sounding surprised as he led the way.

"Yes, I got it yesterday on the way back from school," she explained, feeling herself blushing at the thought of telling Akihiko she was merely a maid.

"She's going to be their newest maid!" Junpei announced, sounding excited.

"Maid…? Well, it's better than nothing," Akihiko said.

"Better than nothing…!" Junpei repeated.

"Yeah, well cleaning up after people isn't exactly something to boast about, is it?"

Junpei looked from Akihiko to Akari. "Is that what you think you've signed up for?"

Akari nodded. "What else is there to do as a maid?"

"…A maid at Chagall Café doesn't clean or tidy up after people," Junpei told them.

"Then what do they do?" she asked warily.

Junpei looked as though he wasn't sure what to say and scratched his head. "Chagall Café is a maid café. The maids are the waitresses, not the cleaners and usually their customers get to take pictures with them, play games or even spend one-on-one time with their chosen maid."

"W-What…!" Akari and Akihiko exclaimed together in shock.

"Well I guess they do a little cleaning here and there if it's quiet, but…"

"How do you know more about Akari's job than she does?" Akihiko questioned. "I assume from experience."

Junpei blushed as they began to cross the bridge. "How can a guy resist?"

Akari took a glance at Akihiko, who looked lost in thought. "I did think the interview was weird…I was wondering the whole time what I was getting myself into."

"Why was the interview weird?" Junpei asked.

Akari didn't know how to explain it. "U-Um…"

"Well?" Akihiko pestered, feeling his cheeks heat up a little at his own curiosity. "What happened?"

"All the manager cared about was what I looked like in a maid outfit," Akari explained to them quietly. "He never asked me once about cleaning skills or references…"

Both of the guys' cheeks went bright red. Akari didn't notice since she was staring at the ground and hoped that one of them would change the subject.

"Oh, I heard this rumour at school today. Apparently, ghost stories are going around. They say that some students died, became ghosts, then ate humans," Junpei told them as they approached the entrance to Paulownia Mall.

"How would people know they ate humans if there weren't any remains?" Akihiko wondered thoughtfully.

"They could be listed as missing," Akari suggested.

"That's a good thought," Akihiko said. "To everyone else it would look as though they just disappeared."

"Someone else said that there are always weird noises coming from the home economics classroom after school, too," Junpei told them. "Maybe the ghosts live in there."

"Or maybe there's an after school club in there," Akari said.

"Mystery solved," Akihiko said as they passed the main fountain.

The alleyway that was lit up with a blue glow caught Akari's eye as they passed it. She was tempted to go down there and try going through the door to see if it led to the Velvet Room, but she remembered that she had no time today.

"The police box…?" Junpei wondered as they stopped outside.

Akihiko didn't say anything and merely led them inside. He went over to the counter and beckoned them over. "These are the guys I told you about. Junpei, Akari, this is Officer Kurosawa. He helps keep our club well equipped."

"It's nice to meet you," Akari said, smiling enthusiastically.

Officer Kurosawa wore serious expression. "Likewise."

"Mister Ikutsuki gave you five thousand yen each to get a decent weapon," Akihiko informed, them, handing them both an envelope each. "Spend it wisely."

"Wow, awesome!" Junpei said excitedly.

Akari looked at her envelope with a confused expression. "What about you, senpai?"

"Oh, I have a decent pair of boxing gloves for the club, so I just use those."

"Will you help me pick something?" she asked hopefully. "I don't have a clue about this kind of thing, so…"

"I don't know much about the naginata, you're probably better off asking Officer Kurosawa," he told her, watching Junpei talking to the policeman. "Did you feel comfortable using a naginata?"

"Um…not really, it's quite…big," she admitted. "It's a little heavy for me, too."

"So you'd prefer something smaller and lighter?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Hey, look at this!" Junpei interrupted, holding up a shiny sword.

"Nice," Akihiko commented. "Hey, you got a light naginata back there?"

"I'll have a look for you," Officer Kurosawa said and disappeared through the door. A minute later he reappeared with a naginata in his hands and handed it over. "How's this?"

Akihiko took the weapon carefully and gave it to Akari. It was definitely lighter than the one she'd borrowed. She tried swinging it around, feeling a little silly. After deciding that it was much easier to use, she gave a single nod and placed the envelope on the counter.

"Hey, Officer Kurosawa, why d'you supply weapons for us?" Junpei asked.

"I'm only doing what I think is right. Besides, I dedicate my life to helping people and it doesn't take much to realise something strange is going on around here."

Once they were satisfied with their new weapons, the three of them bid goodbye to Officer Kurosawa and left the police box.

Akari stared at Chagall Café next door and took a deep breath. "I-I suppose I'll see you guys tonight…"

"Oh, that's right," Junpei said, looking a little out of it. "I'm going to head off now too. Have fun, Akari."

"T-Thanks…" she said timidly. "You too…"

Akihiko watched Junpei walk away. "Are you going to be okay? Well, let's swap numbers just in case."

"O-Okay," she agreed, a little surprised at his sudden request.

"That way, if you get stuck with a creep you can excuse yourself and text me, then I'll get here as quickly as I can and…" he trailed off, blushing as he pulled out his phone. "…And be your…c-customer."

Akari's cheeks went pink. "S-Senpai, you don't have to do that-"

"No I don't, but there are too many weird people around lately. Tell me your number and I'll call you."

She gave him her number; a few seconds later, her phone played a cheerful tone. A part of her wanted to pick it up and joke around with him, even though he was standing right there. She felt too silly to do that though and waited for him to hang up.

"Aren't you going to get that?" he asked.

Akari looked at him for a second, wondering what to do. "Um…but…"

He looked at her. "You'd better hurry or it'll go to voicemail."

Akari hesitantly pressed a button on her phone and answered the call. "Hello, Akihiko."

"Akihiko?" the voice on the other end wondered.

Akari gasped and felt herself blushing. "I-I'm sorry-"

"There's no need to apologise. Were you expecting another call?"

"Yes," she told them quietly, her cheeks reddening further at Akihiko's curious stare.

"I see. Well then, I won't keep you. I was merely calling to say hello and praise you for last night's expedition. You did well."

"H-How do you know about that?"

"Don't you recognise my voice?"

Akari was silent for a second in thought. "…Theo!"

He chuckled. "Yes. Anyway, I mustn't keep you if you're expecting another call. I'll say goodbye-"

"No, wait!" she exclaimed, feeling a little too hot now. "U-Um…h-how did you get my number?"

"Ah, now that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

Akari saw his proud face in her mind. "It would, but I'd like to know-"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. Some things in life are unexplainable."

"So…you don't know how you got my number?" she asked doubtfully. Silence came from Theodore's end of the line. "Then I suppose you really can't tell me…when will I see you again?"

Akihiko looked up from his phone in surprise, feeling a pang in his chest.

"Unfortunately I cannot predict our next meeting," Theodore told her. "However, you are free to visit whenever you wish."

Akari felt her heart leap. "Really? What about today?"

"As I said, Akari-sama, whenever you wish…I'll always be here."

Akari smiled to herself. "O-Okay…oh…actually, I can't make today. I start my new job…I should go now…"

"I see…I'll say goodbye and let you go then," Theodore said. "Have a good evening, Akari-sama."


	10. Chapter 10

Thank you for reading and reviewing! :D sorry for the delay in posting the next chapter. I've been super busy these days. My last exam is coming up so I'm preparing for that. It'll probably take me this long from now on as I'll be visiting family over the summer holidays. But, for those who are enjoying this, I will keep writing, and appreciate every one of you, especially for being patient with me! :)

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Ten**

When Akari heard Theodore hang up, she sighed. She quickly remembered Akihiko was standing next to her waiting and blushed. "S-Sorry, senpai…u-um…"

"Don't apologise," he told her. "You ready for me to call you?"

She nodded and waited for her phone to ring. Afterwards, she navigated to her missed calls. She saved his number as 'Akihiko-senpai'. Afterwards, she found Theodore's number and saved it as 'Theodore-senpai'. "Would 'Theodore-senpai' be correct?"

"It depends on how he's related to you," Akihiko explained.

"It's hard to explain…he seems older and wiser than me."

"I'd just go with senpai, then."

She nodded and put her phone away. "Okay. Well, thank you, Akihiko…I suppose I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah…" he muttered. "I'll see you later. Be careful, Akari."

"Don't worry, I will," she promised, smiling cheerfully to hide her nervousness. "Bye!"

When she entered the café, many heads turned to watch her. She tried to ignore them as she walked bravely up to the counter where a girl she was sure was Haru stood behind the display with a sweet smile. "Master Riku has been expecting you! Please go on through to his office."

Akari bowed and quickly went through the door, walking briskly down the corridor. She stopped when she reached Riku's door and raised her hand to knock, taking a deep breath…

"Hello, Miss Rose," Riku greeted softly, opening the door before she could knock.

"H-Hello Riku," Akari greeted nervously.

"Are you ready to begin your first shift?"

"Well…I-I'm pretty nervous…"

Riku muttered something in Japanese that Akari couldn't understand before speaking in English again. "Totemo kawaii desu yo…you have no reason to be nervous, Miss Rose. You will fit in perfectly, I can assure you."

"I don't think so, you see, um-"

"Now now, you must not be so hard on yourself. Your dress is waiting for you in the bathroom. Please, go ahead. I shall be waiting out here."

Akari saw no other option but to put on the dress and do as Riku asked; it was, after all, her new job so she knew she was going to give in. She didn't have the confidence to say no to people in fear of what their response would be and didn't want to let people down or make them unhappy. After she let those thoughts circle her mind for a mere few seconds, she entered the bathroom and closed the door. Once she'd changed into the dress, she took a deep breath and turned the handle. Riku looked up from the paperwork on his desk with bespectacled eyes and a flirtatious smile. Akari couldn't keep eye contact for longer than two seconds and had quickly shied away to look at her feet.

"You are just as cute as I remember," Riku told her softly as he stood up. "Please wait here whilst I collect Haru. She will give you a tour of our adorable café."

Akari nodded and watched him leave. Whilst he was gone, she nervously squeezed her hands and felt her body shaking. She wondered how long Riku was going to be and pondered whether or not she had time to sneak her phone into her apron pocket so the option to text Akihiko was available at all times. After all, they just swapped numbers for that reason. Since she'd convinced herself to get it, she hurried into the bathroom and closed the door so that if Riku and Haru arrived it didn't look suspicious.

"So, Miss Rose," Riku said as he came back into his office, accompanied by a smiling Haru. "I have brought Haru. She will give you a tour and show you the ropes. You will have to forgive me for the wait just now; Haru was serving a customer."

"O-Oh, that's all right," Akari said.

"Don't be nervous, Akari," Haru told her. "Our customers will love you!"

Riku nodded. "She is right. I guarantee it. So, I will leave you to it."

Haru nodded as Riku sat back down at his desk. "Please follow me, Akari! I'll show you around."

Akari followed her out of Riku's office and back through to the main café. She only just noticed that most of the customers were in fact young men and male students. Her cheeks heated up as she stood timidly behind the counter with Haru, who began to describe how she deals with payments and orders.

"Your job is to serve the customers and keep them satisfied," she explained.

"Satisfied…?" Akari wondered.

Haru nodded. "By serving them food and drinks, attending to their needs and taking part in the activities we offer."

"What exactly do you mean by attending to their needs?"

"Socialising with them, entertaining them and making sure their eyes have something to undress."

She blushed furiously. "W-What?"

"Your personality is important when you're in front of customers. So even if it's an act, you must be cute, attractive and happy at all times."

Akari didn't know how to respond. "What about the activities you offer?"

"Customers can take photos with their chosen maid for a fee, play games with the maids, have a date with their maid…"

"Date…?"

Haru nodded. "We also hold special events. For example, last Christmas we held an event that lasted throughout the twelve days of Christmas…it was very fun! I hope you will still be here to enjoy the holiday season with us this year. Oh, look! We have another customer. Why don't you take this one?"

Akari wasn't ready to be thrown into the deep end. Her knees felt week and she looked to see who had just came in. A young boy with jet-black hair had entered and nervously walked up to the counter. He greeted them in Japanese with a timid smile and Haru attended to him since she knew Akari couldn't speak much Japanese.

"This is Master Hiroki," she told Akari. "Master Hiroki, this is our newest maid, Akari-chan! Today is her first day, so please be gentle with her."

"D-Don't the customers get to choose their maid…?" she wondered.

Haru made a noise of agreement. "He chose you straight away!"

"W-What am I supposed to do?" Akari asked in panic.

"Take Master Hiroki to a table and serve him. Most importantly, have fun!"

Akari watched Haru walk away to help another maid, leaving Akari to deal with the customer. "H-Hello, Master Hiroki. U-Um…please follow me to a table."

Hiroki shyly followed her to an empty table by the window. "Arigatou…"

Akari bowed as he sat down and nervously pulled her dress towards her knees after offering him a menu. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"I'll have a melon bubble tea, please."

"Of course," she replied. "Anything else?"

He shook his head. "'sank you…"

Akari smiled at his accent and nodded. "I'll be right back."

Hiroki nodded and returned the smile as he watched her walk away. Akari found Haru and gave her Hiroki's order. Haru showed Akari how to work the bubble tea machine and explained how the maids personalise the food and drinks with various decorations. She told Akari to just do as she feels when decorating a customer's order, since it would be more personal that way. Akari didn't know what to do with the melon bubble tea since there was no frothed milk to write in and her mind was too nervous to be creative, so she just brought it straight to Hiroki and sat down opposite him.

"I hope you enjoy it," she said, giving him her cutest smile.

"Arigatou…" Hiroki was blushing as he took a sip of his drink. "Oishii desu ne…"

Akari giggled nervously. "I-I'm sorry, my Japanese isn't very good…"

"Oh," he said quietly. "You are not Japanese. I can teach you, if you like."

"Really? That would be wonderful!" Akari replied.

Hiroki looked up and smiled. "Eto…konnichiwa, watashi wa Hiroki desu."

Akari stared blankly. "U-Um…"

Hiroki chuckled. "I said 'hello, my name is Hiroki.'."

"O-Okay…um…konnichiwa! Watashi wa Akari desu."

"…You aren't like the others."

"Huh?"

"You seem different. Your personality…you're quieter than the others. But…it makes you cuter, totemo kawaii."

Akari's cheeks turned bright red, now understanding what Riku had said earlier. "N-No…that's ridiculous."

Hiroki smiled and took another sip of his drink. "Can I…play a game with you?"

"O-Of course," she replied automatically, but had no idea where this was going to lead.

Hiroki decided on karaoke. Akari was horrified, but forced herself over to the machine anyway. She let him decide on a few songs and they waited for the first one to load. When he was about thirty seconds into the first song, which was from an anime Akari didn't know, they appeared to have already drawn a bit of a crowd. A few customers and maids were watching. Neither Akari nor Hiroki realised this since he was too busy looking at the screen and she was watching him sing, but once the first song finished, the few people that had been watching cheered and applauded, making Akari and Hiroki turn around in surprise. Since they were speaking in Japanese, Akari couldn't understand what they were saying.

"They want us to duet," Hiroki translated in a quiet voice as the next song finished loading. "We can get the lyrics in English."

Akari swallowed nervously. "Really…? Wouldn't it sound weird if you sang in Japanese and I sang in English…?"

"I think it would sound beautiful."

Hiroki had chosen to sing 'Mr Rock 'n Roll' by Amy Macdonald as a duet. Akari thought it was a little romantic but realised it probably fit the theme of the café, so she went with it because it was now her job. She watched the screen as music started to play, lyrics started scrolling in Japanese and Hiroki began singing…

Suddenly the lyrics were in English. Akari almost didn't realise she was supposed to be singing since she was used to reading English anyway…"Rock chick of the century is acting like she used to be, dancing like there's no one there, before she never seemed to care, now she wouldn't dare, it's so rock and roll…to be alone…"

The lyrics for the chorus came up in both languages, so they sang in unison…"And they'll meet one day far away and say…'I wish I was something more'…and they'll meet one day far away and say…'I wish I knew you…I wish I knew you before…'"

By the end of the song, Akari's cheeks were burning. She wanted to run and hide as everyone applauded and cheered for them, but she was forced to stay to make the customer happy…

"That was fun," Hiroki said as they walked back over to their table. "I enjoyed hearing you sing in English, too. It was nice."

Akari giggled nervously. "Heh…I had fun, too. I liked listening to your singing…the Japanese language is beautiful."

Haru appeared at their table. "Konnichiwa! Sadly your time with Akari-chan has come to an end…thank you for being such an exquisite customer, Master Hiroki! As a token of appreciation for being Akari-chan's first customer, we will allow you to have a photo with her for free! This way, please!"

Together they followed Haru to the photo booth. She ushered them inside and got the Polaroid camera ready. Akari swallowed hard and felt her legs turning to jelly as Hiroki put an arm around her. He smiled at her before turning to the camera.

"How about like this?" Haru suggested, posing examples for Akari, making the cute 'V' sign with a wink and one leg bent behind her.

She gave it a go, feeling a little silly but left out the leg part since her balancing skills were awful and probably nonexistent whilst feeling nervous. Her cheeks were pink and Hiroki stared at her. Suddenly he kissed her cheek; Akari was frozen in her pose, in shock more than anything but this made her able to freeze-frame for Haru, who snapped a shot quickly. They took another photo, but this time they both posed with cute 'V' signs whilst embracing.

"Here are your photos!" Haru announced excitedly. "Akari-chan, this is a souvenir or your first customer!"

"T-Thank you…" she whispered, blushing furiously.

"Which one do you want, Akari-chan?" Hiroki asked.

"I don't mind. You should pick, Master Hiroki. You're the customer."

"I will take this one then," he told her, taking the one of him kissing her cheek. "It's so cute. Well, then…arigatou gozaimasu…kyou wa tanoshi katta desu. Mata ne, Akari-chan."

She watched him leave, feeling confused. "What did he say, Haru?"

"He said 'Thank you, I had a great time today. See you next time.'."

She smiled broadly. "H-He really said that…?"

Haru nodded and smiled back. "You satisfied your first customer."

"Hehe! I'm so happy! I'm just going to the toilet before I serve my next customer," Akari squealed before hurrying across the room and locking herself in the toilet. She pulled her phone from her pocket and selected Akihiko from her list of contacts.

_Hi Akihiko-senpai! It's Akari. ^w^ I just served my first customer and he wasn't weird or perverted! I just thought I'd let you know because I don't want you to worry about me. Anyway, I have to get on with work...I'm so nervous though. It's crazy how busy this place gets…hehe. I hope you're having fun. See you tonight~_

Akihiko had only been back at the dorm for about ten minutes before his phone vibrated. He stopped punching his punch bag in curiosity and grabbed his phone from the bed. Whilst reading Akari's message, he could hear her voice in his head as though she was reading it to him. He breathed a sigh of relief at her words, soon immersed in boxing again and the angst he felt about perverts got smaller and smaller with each punch.

The clock read ten minutes to eight. Akari had just finished her last customer and was helping the other maids tidy up when her phone vibrated. Her heart skipped a beat in excitement and she pulled her phone out quickly in hope that Akihiko had replied to her text.

_Hey Akari. Glad to hear your first customer wasn't some weird pervert. I just hope the rest weren't, either. Sorry I didn't text you back straight away. I thought it might distract you from working so I waited. Speaking of waiting, you should look outside._

Akari looked up from the table she was wiping and gasped because Akihiko stood outside. He waved at her; she blushed and waved back, smiling uneasily as she realised he'd be watching her clean the rest of the tables in her maid outfit.

_What are you doing here! Are you waiting for me…?_

She watched Akihiko look down at his phone and read her message, then look back up and nod. She swallowed nervously and subconsciously gave him a sheepish grin before getting back to cleaning the tables. She noticed Haru was the only other person still there, diligently sorting out the till. Realising the other maids must have finished their tasks, she hurried to finish her own.

"Sorry for surprising you like this," Akihiko apologised as they started walking towards the exit.

"O-Oh, i-it's okay," she told him tensely as the glowing blue alleyway caught her eye. She debated with herself whether or not to explore it, but came to the conclusion that she was better of trying another time when she was alone. "What are you doing here?"

"Mitsuru and I agreed that it would be best if I walked you home since you leave so late and the existence of Shadows in our world makes it even more dangerous for a young girl to walk home alone at night."

Akari wanted to defend herself, but she knew Akihiko was right and gave in. "You're right."

"…So, how was your first day?"

"Um…successful…?" she replied, questioning her own answer. "It wasn't exactly what I thought it would be…"

"Yeah, when you said you were a maid I didn't expect it to be that kind of maid…"

Akari blushed and stared at the ground as they walked towards the bridge, which is pretty much how it was for the rest of the journey home, too. She felt extremely awkward the whole time so she couldn't think of anything to say, but whenever she glanced at Akihiko he didn't seem to show any signs of discomfiture or embarrassment; instead he looked calm and content.

Not long after they'd arrived back at the dorm, Yukari dragged Akari upstairs to her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and looked at Akari with an excited, expectant expression. It turned out she was eager to know how her first day of work at Chagall Café went. After Akari had given her every detail she could remember, Yukari was finally satisfied.

"Some coincidence that we ended up in the same tutor group, huh?" Yukari pointed out, stretching her arms.

"Yes it is," Akari agreed.

"Funny, huh? You know, the first time Junpei saw us together he got jealous and wondered how we knew each other. It's fun to tease him sometimes."

Akari merely giggled. "I should probably let you get some sleep…"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I am pretty tired," Yukari realised. "By the way…you don't have to be formal around me or anything. We're friends now, right?"

She nodded in response as Yukari turned on her television. Akari watched as a reporter spoke swiftly in Japanese about something to do with someone in a hospital. The man who was being admitted looked blankly as a doctor attempted to question him. His responses were confused mumbles and groans…

"Y-You don't want to see that…" Yukari trailed off, changing the channel.

Akari assumed it was someone who'd fallen victim to Apathy Syndrome and become one of the Lost, judging by his current state. She was relieved that Yukari had changed the channel, but she still felt horrified after seeing the person act like a zombie. It was hard to accept the reality of it all…

She returned to her own room and collapsed on her bed, letting out a sigh. A sudden rapping on her door made her jump back up and hurry to answer it. "Oh, hello Mitsuru-senpai."

"Good evening, Akari," Mitsuru said with a serious expression.

All of a sudden Akihiko appeared behind Mitsuru. "Mind if we come in?"

"N-Not at all…is something wrong?"

"No, we just want to talk to you," Akihiko explained, closing the door behind him.

"We wanted to know how you felt about continuing to be the leader during our explorations in Tartarus," Mitsuru told her.

"At least until I'm fully healed."

"Akihiko and I were the only members of SEES until just recently. I understand that asking you to join was a big enough request to begin with, but we need all the help we can get."

"I-I understand what you're saying, but I don't think I'm the right person to be the leader-"

"Akari, you're the only one who can summon your Persona without difficulty. It makes sense in the current situation for you to be our leader."

"W-Wouldn't it make more sense for either of you two to be the leader? You both have far more experience than I do."

"See? I told you, Mitsuru."

Mitsuru sighed and folded her arms. "I'm aware that I cannot force you into being our leader, but I want you to at least think about it before you make such a snap decision."

Akari swallowed nervously, feeling as though she'd just been scolded. "O-Okay."

"Thank you. Oh, and there's one last thing. If you want to train in Tartarus, let me know. You never know when a powerful Shadow may appear. Well, I'll leave you to it. Goodnight, Akari."

"Goodnight, Mitsuru-senpai…"

Once Mitsuru had left, Akari looked at her feet and held her hands together, feeling uneasy now. "I-Is there something else you wanted…?"

Akihiko almost didn't hear her; his thoughts were back at the café…"O-Oh, I…um…did you finish your homework on Ise Monogatari?"

She nodded. "Yes…how do you know about my homework?"

"Oh, Junpei told me about it. He said you wanted help with it, but since you've finished it maybe I should read through it for you instead, since I studied it last year."

"Really? That would be really helpful."

Akari gave him a nervous smile as she waited for her laptop to start up and Akihiko stood patiently behind her. After loading up her article, he rested his hands on the back of her chair and began to read through it. She began to bite a nail anxiously until she accidentally bit too hard and squealed in pain, making Akihiko look down at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Y-Yeah…" she lied, putting pressure on where she'd accidentally pulled skin away to stop the bleeding.

"What happened?"

"N-Nothing…don't worry…" she told him, checking her finger. "Carry on-"

Suddenly he was bending down next to her and saw her finger bleeding. "You're bleeding. How did that happen?"

"Akihiko, please-"

"Akari, how did you start bleeding?"

She stayed silent and pressed the cut firmly, only feeling able to manage a feeble apology. "I'm sorry, senpai…"

"What are you apologising for? It's not like it was deliberate or self-harm, is it?"

Akari didn't reply; over the past few years, biting her nails had become a habit she'd gotten into when she was especially nervous, but it usually ended up resulting in making herself bleed. She'd gotten used it being painful, but not used to the actual feeling of pain itself so it still hurt when she did it. She genuinely didn't do it deliberately, though; biting her nails was such a habit now that it would happen automatically when she found herself in a daunting situation.

"It's not deliberate…" she told him after a while. "It happens when I get too anxious…"

"What are you anxious about right now?"

"…" Akari made a noise, but no words came out. "B-Being around you, s-senpai…"

"Huh…? Being around me is making you anxious right now?" he repeated, unsure if he'd heard her correctly.

"Y-You know I'm not so good around boys…"

"You say that, but…you seem fine around Junpei," he pointed out. "Are you sure it's not me…?"

Akari realised he may be right. She was less nervous around Junpei than Akihiko and the only reason she could think of was that she might be developing a crush on him…and she could never tell him that…but how could she be sure it was a crush instead of her being tense in the presence of boys? She still felt nervous around Junpei but found it easier to talk to him because he was a confident person himself and usually does most of the talking. She didn't feel the butterflies and tension in her stomach like when she was with Theodore and she was pretty sure she had an instant crush on him.

"I-I'm sure," she told him after a minute of silence. "Junpei's a confident person, so he usually does all the talking…"

Akihiko looked unsure. "…All right. You shouldn't bite your nails, though. I don't want you make your fingers bleed all the time. It's not good."

She nodded. "I realise that…I'm sorry, it really does just happen though. I try my best not to but it's like an automatic reaction to my anxiety…"

"Well, as long as you try your best there's not much more you can do. Actually, come to think of it, I could punish you…"

"B-But you still haven't punished me for other things-"

"You want me to punish you for everything now?" Akihiko chuckled. "You should be thankful I'm being so lenient with your punishment. Back in the day, I never used to be this soft. Maybe it's because you come across as fragile…"

"I'll get stronger though, right?" she asked warily.

"Of course you will," he assured her. "It'll be a slow process, but you'll get there."

"Maybe I'll challenge you to a boxing match when I do."

"Haha…I couldn't accept that challenge."

"Why not?"

He felt his cheeks go red. "B-Because you're a girl…a-and you're my friend. I don't want to accidentally hurt you…"

Akari blushed at how it almost sounded like he'd called her his girlfriend. "I'll be okay…"

Akihiko shook his head. "No. I'm not risking it-"

"I might not give you a choice," she said, feeling a surge of courage.

"Was that another threat?"

"Yes," she told him, clarifying it properly this time.

"I see," he said with a smile. "Do you plan on acting on your original threat first?"

"Perhaps." Akari's voice was now almost a whisper and she turned to face her laptop. "U-Um…so how much have you read?"

Akihiko smirked to himself and had a feeling she wasn't going to act on either of her threats. When he'd finished reading her article, he praised her work and left to get some sleep, letting Akari get ready for bed too.

In the morning there was no sign of Akihiko or Yukari, so Akari journeyed to school with Junpei. Her mind was on Akihiko, so she didn't really know what Junpei was talking about. Now and again she heard parts of his apparent conversation with her and could just about make out that he was complaining about coming to school being a job itself, let alone fighting Shadows in Tartarus with everyone…

"…Not that I'm complaining," Junpei chuckled. "I do feel a lot more satisfied these days."

"We've only just started though," Akari said, feeling she'd zoned out for long enough.

"I know, but I already feel a buzz of excitement when I think about Tartarus. Don't you feel it too?"

"Not really…I…"

"Are you going to be okay? You shouldn't push yourself too hard and get sick."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," she assured him, but he didn't look like he believed her; she didn't blame him, though. She didn't believe herself, either.

Junpei sighed as they walked through the school gates. "Man, I don't know how I'll pass the time until after school. SEES is all I'm going to look forwards to now…"

The final lesson of the day ended and students hurried out of their classrooms in groups to get to their after school clubs, but in Akari's classroom Junpei approached her with a grin on his face.

"Man, napping in class is always more refreshing! Hey, want to grab a bite to eat at Hagakure? My treat," he asked eagerly.

"Are you sure?" Akari wondered in surprise.

"Yeah. C'mon, let's go. I'm starving."

Akari followed Junpei out of school and onto the train at Port Island Station. It was a quick trip to the Strip Mall; when they arrived and began walking through it, Akari was instantly reminded of her shopping trip with Akihiko where she met his friend 'Shinji' who accused them of being on a date…

"Akari! You coming?" Junpei called, waiting by the staircase.

"O-Oh, sorry!" she stuttered, rushing across to him.

"Something on your mind?" he asked.

"Coming here reminded me of when I went shopping with Akihiko-senpai," she told him quietly, following him closely as they started going upstairs. "Mmm...what's that smell?"

"Oh, you like fast food too, huh? That, my friend, is Wild-Duck Burger. It's so bad for you but sometimes I get a craving. Man, Hagakure is crowded…I hope we can get in."

Luckily they managed to get in without much waiting and were seated at the bar at the back of the restaurant. Junpei ordered two specials, not giving Akari any choice but she didn't say anything since he was paying for her. "The special…?"

"Yeah, well the normal meals are good too but the special is pure awesome," he explained enthusiastically. "You'll be glad you had it, trust me."

They hadn't waited long for their meals. Akari had no idea what was going to appear on her plate- or bowl, as it turned out to be; two large bowls of soup and noodles were placed in front of them, making both of their stomachs rumble from the delicious smells wafting from the ramen.

Suddenly it hit Akari that she hadn't had much practice with chopsticks and she didn't want to make a fool of herself in front of people. "Hey, Junpei, I don't suppose they have forks here, do they?"

"You're in luck there, Akari! Hagakure is used to the occasional tourist," he replied happily, before realising what he'd said. "Not that you are, I mean-"

"It's okay," she assured him with a smile. "B-But…would you mind asking for one, please-?"

"Sure. Hey mister, can I get a fork please?"

Akari felt an abrupt vibration in her cat purse, making her jump slightly. She immediately pulled out her phone and checked her messages, noticing straight away that it was from Akihiko.

_Hey Akari. I just wanted to wish you good luck for work. I hope today is as successful as yesterday was. Remember to text me if one of your customers turns out to be a weird pervert. See you later._

"Judging by the smile on your face, I'm going with Akihiko," Junpei smirked.

"Huh?" Akari wondered, looking up from her phone. "O-Oh…"

The man behind the counter handed Junpei a fork. He gave it to Akari, who took it with gratitude and put her phone away in embarrassment. Junpei watched her as she stabbed the noodles and swirled them around her fork, not taking her eyes off of the bowl. She silently moved the fork to her mouth and ate a small mouthful.

"So, are you enjoying the ramen?" Junpei asked, deciding to change the subject.

"It's delicious," Akari admitted. "The soup blends well with the noodles. They're really thick too. I've never seen these before."

"Fresh egg udon noodles are the way to go!" he told her enthusiastically, digging into his own food and eating noisily, clearly enjoying his ramen. "Hey, um…do you feel okay?"

"What do you mean? Of course I do."

"Well…Akihiko-senpai told me that you were in hospital for a while, but I don't really know the details and I completely understand if you don't want to talk about it. It's just…you always seem so full of energy at school and these past few days you've been a little out of it."

"Y-You mean…you were worried about me?" she asked, feeling heat in her cheeks and keeping her eyes focused on her bowl.

"Heh…yeah. I had some problems when I transferred too, but you have all the fighting stuff on top of that."

Akari remembered how badly Junpei wanted to be the leader in Tartarus. "Thank you…"

"I was getting worried that you weren't accustomed to school, this culture or everything that's been happening, but I think you'll be just fine."

"I hope so," she agreed, giving him a smile; abruptly she felt herself zoning out and turning back to her bowl of ramen, where her stare fixated on a single piece of meat…

Master Akari Rose…" Theodore's gentle voice came from nowhere. "This is the first step in your new found friendship with the Magician arcana. As you become closer to him, the power of the Magician arcana will grow inside of you, enabling the ability to hold stronger Personae of that arcana…well then, good luck, Akari-sama…"

"Yo Akari, you okay?" Junpei asked, bringing Akari back to reality.

She looked up instantly and smiled sheepishly. "Y-Yeah…say, can you do magic tricks?"

"Magic tricks?"

"Sorry, that was pretty random," she realised, swirling more noodles onto her fork. "Hey…did I eat that piece of meat…?"

Junpei chuckled. "…Sorry. I stole it since you were staring at it so much but it would seem that attempt at getting your attention didn't work. I guess you could say it was a magic trick."

"Oh, that's not what I meant…"

"Heh, I'm sure if I summoned my Persona right now, most people here would think it's a magic trick."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," came a gruff voice from Junpei's left. "With people turning into zombies these days I don't think there's much else they won't believe."

Akari gasped as she recognised him as Akihiko's friend 'Shinji', wearing the same maroon pea coat and black beanie hat as before. He looked at her with a knowing smile and rested his arms on the bar.

"W-What are you talking about?" Junpei questioned.

"Sorry, just ignore me. I shouldn't be butting into something that's none of my business," Akihiko's friend said roughly. "Hey, can I order one special over here, please?"

Akari and Junpei left the young boy to it and silently resumed eating their ramen. Soon enough, a smirk emerged upon Junpei's lips and Akari wondered to herself what he was thinking about.

"What's with that face?" Akari asked, unable to hold in her curiosity.

"Oh, a thought just crossed my mind, that's all. I noticed our dorm seems to be unisex. That can't be good, right?" Junpei replied casually with the same smirk, noticing Akari's blushing cheeks. "Don't worry. I don't drag love into my work. I can't guarantee I won't fall for someone though! Haha!"

They chatted about school life for what seemed like hours before going their separate ways and after a busy evening at work, Akari returned to the dorm too and took her usual place on the sofa.

"Akari, have you been monitoring your condition since you left the hospital?" Mitsuru asked.

"Um…of course. I feel fine…I haven't noticed anything different. I'm starting to get my energy back, too," Akari replied.

"Good. Anyone who is sick or injured will not be permitted to enter Tartarus; it is important for us to train as much as we can to become stronger."

"I completely agree," Akihiko chimed in.

Mitsuru raised an eyebrow and simply looked at him disbelievingly. Akihiko avoided her eyes and turned to look at Akari instead. Yukari was staring awkwardly at the floor and Junpei was in a world of his own.

"Hey, Junpei, want to go to Tartarus tonight?" Yukari asked him.

"Haha! I'm already there!" Junpei laughed.

"…What are you talking about?" she asked him with raised eyebrows.

"He's daydreaming about Tartarus," Akari explained, not realising she'd spoken.

"Akari gets me!" Junpei grinned. "Wasn't it obvious, Yuka-chan?"

Yukari sighed and closed her eyes. "I should have known."

"My Persona seems to only learn physical skills so far," Junpei noted. "Makes sense though. Men are supposed to fight with their fists, mano a mano, like Akihiko-senpai!"

Akihiko tore his stare away from Akari, who didn't even seem to notice that he was staring at her in the first place. "Exactly. However, it's your Persona that uses its fists. You use a sword."

Akari looked at Akihiko as he spoke. She saw his facial expression; it was full of determination and excitement. Junpei, however, looked embarrassed as he realised what Akihiko said was true.

"I wonder why you don't notice you've been infected by an enemy until after the battle," Akihiko wondered.

"Maybe it's because you're concentrating so hard on fighting," Akari suggested.

"You're probably right. Well, I don't want any of you guys to come near me if you get sick. If I catch something, I won't be able to fight for a while again and I haven't even recovered from my broken rib yet."

"We understand, senpai," Yukari muttered. "Hey, I've been thinking lately that maybe I should use something other than a bow and arrow to fight Shadows with. I mean, it misses a lot and doesn't do a great deal of damage…"

"I think you should stick to what you're used to," Akari told her. "Since you're in the archery club it makes sense to carry on using the bow and arrow."

"That is true, I do prefer it…"

"Akari's right," Akihiko said. "If you prefer it and are used to using it, don't change to something else unless you have to."

Their discussion about Tartarus and fighting Shadows led to agreeing to train tonight. In the meantime, Yukari turned on the television as a newsflash was showing. "Over ten thousand carp were released for the official Spring Carp Release Ceremony today into ponds and park rivers across the country. We interviewed a few passersby on their thoughts about the next ceremony in June..."

Akari listened vaguely to the story to try and take her mind off their impending plan for tonight, though she knew the imaginary pictures at the back of her mind would be brought to reality in less than a couple of hours.

Akihiko had again decided that he wasn't going to let Akari explore Tartarus tonight without his supervision, much to Mitsuru's displeasure. She ignored him for the entire train journey and right up until they entered Tartarus where she addressed everyone, although it seemed like she was directing her speech to everyone except him.

"Penthesilea has discovered that there is a fixed barrier somewhere in Tartarus that will prevent us from progressing any higher once we reach a certain level. It would also seem that the temporary teleporters are randomly distributed too and not on every floor," Mitsuru informed them.

"That doesn't sound too promising," Junpei said. "But with most of the incidents on the news being unknown Shadow attacks, we have to do our best."

"The Shadows are usually responsible?" Akari asked in disbelief. "Yet people don't realise it?"

"That's correct," Mitsuru said.

"It's like the night before you saved me. A random man in the street was preyed upon because he didn't transmogrify. The next day he was found exactly where the Shadow left him, except he wasn't normal anymore; he'd become one of the Lost and left to wander the streets soullessly," Yukari told her. "The police don't know what's going on but they're attempting to find out."

"They won't get anywhere. Officer Kurosawa is the only one who knows that we're doing something about it," Akihiko assured them.

Without any further delays, Mitsuru urged everyone into Tartarus; everyone except Akihiko. He went against her wishes once again as he led everyone through the doors at the top of the staircase and through the first labyrinth on the first floor. There were only a couple of Shadows to defeat since they had battled a few last time, so they quickly proceeded to the second floor. Akari wondered how long Akihiko and Mitsuru's dissatisfaction with each other would continue, worrying about it affecting their training in Tartarus…

They'd only just begun exploring the fifth floor when Yukari pointed out that it was strange for no enemies to be lurking about. Akihiko agreed and told them to up their guard; that was, until they found a rather large Shadow blocking their path. Just before the Shadow, there was a turning that emitted a green glow. Curious, Akari took a step closer to peer around the wall-

"Akari!" Akihiko yelled, pulling her back. "What are you doing? This Shadow is huge! I'll go first-"

"But your rib-" she started.

"Stay behind me and- Akari, wait!"

Akari ignored him and ran forwards, disappearing around the corner. "There's a teleporter here!"

Everyone appeared behind her and gathered around the glowing platform. Mitsuru's digitalised voice informed them that this teleporter was different to the others they'd encountered before; this one appeared to be permanent. Akari felt the Velvet Room calling to her so she leaped onto the platform and teleported back to the entrance before anyone could stop her. Mitsuru watched in surprise as Akari dashed across the hall. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the door, wondering how she could get the key to appear. Just as her mind began to think of possible ways of summoning it, the door opened and she took a nervous step forwards.


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks so much to everyone who's still reading, you guys are what's keeping me writing! So here's some more~ :3

* * *

><p><strong>The Velvet Lake<strong>

**Chapter Eleven**

"Good evening, Akari-sama," Theodore said softly. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. Please, allow me to take your shoes."

"Good evening, Theo," Akari replied with a smile. "Is Igor about?"

"He can be. May I ask what it is that you request of him?"

"I…would like to fuse Personae. We've just come across a big Shadow and I'd like to make a stronger Persona to fight it with."

"Ah, I see. I can help you with that. Please, take a seat." Theodore took a seat opposite her in Igor's luxurious armchair. He waved a hand over the table and two arcana cards appeared on it. "Orpheus and Alp…together they will create Unicorn of the Priestess arcana, strong against light and weak against fire. It will nullify ice attacks and have the skills to heal, poison and use light and wind attacks."

Akari felt a little overwhelmed. "A-A…unicorn?"

Theodore nodded. "She is only able to be tamed by a pure maiden, but you needn't worry about that. I'm sure you will have no problems having her aid you in battles."

She felt her cheeks heat up a little. "I…hope she likes me…"

"Fear not. If a pure maiden is what she's after, she'll be relieved to know that her new Master will fill the role perfectly."

Akari's mind was as blank as a piece of paper, but her cheeks were as red as roses. She watched Theodore wave his hand over the cards and they lifted off the table, hovering in mid-air. He snapped his fingers and the cards became one. Unicorn appeared next to Akari and spoke in a soft, angelic tone.

"I am Unicorn. Hajimemashite. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. I shall shield you and heal your wounds."

"U-Um…" Akari stuttered, staring at Unicorn in shock. "She's beautiful…I-I don't know what some of those words mean though…"

Theodore smiled. "'Hajimemashite' means 'how do you do'. 'Yoroshiku onegaishimasu' means 'pleased to meet you'."

"Oh…hajimemashite! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"

Theodore held back a chuckle. Unicorn bowed and then with the blink of an eye, she disappeared. Akari looked baffled by the whole situation and stared at the empty space where Unicorn just stood.

"Are you all right, Akari-sama?"

"Y-Yes…sorry. Thank you for your assistance, Theo. I can assure you it was greatly appreciated."

"You're most welcome. I'm glad I could be of service."

Akari stood up and bowed. "Goodnight, Theo. I'll see you again soon."

"I'll look forwards to our next meeting. Goodnight, Akari-sama."

She quickly exited the Velvet Room, remembering that everyone else must be wondering where she went. The hall of Tartarus appeared in front of her and Junpei was holding her shoulders whilst Akihiko was frantically waving a hand in front of her face, yelling her name.

"Akari! Not again…"

"Akari, snap of it…please…!"

"Huh…?" Akari murmured.

"Thank goodness you're all right," Akihiko said with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, we thought you'd become one of the Lost," Junpei chimed in.

"What happened?" Akihiko asked.

Akari didn't want to talk about it in front of everyone. It already felt like she was going crazy. She saw a lot of things that only she could see and didn't want to look even more stupid to her housemates so she shook her head and silently stared at her feet.

"Well, as long as you're all right…" he muttered. "Are you ready to go back?"

This time she nodded and looked up. "Let's go."

Akihiko grinned and nodded in affirmation. He led the way over to the teleporter with Akari and Junpei close behind and Yukari trailing slowly at the back. Akari followed Akihiko onto the platform boldly this time and didn't feel as scared as she did the first time so there was no need for them to embrace. Her arm merely brushed against his chest as they stood closely to remain inside the glowing light. Once they'd been beamed back to the fifth floor, they waited for Junpei and Yukari before heading towards the large Shadow blocking their path.

Mitsuru identified the Shadow as three huge Venus Eagles and very strong ones at that. The four of them ran towards the Shadow in unison, weapons raised and ready to attack. Junpei and Yukari went for the two Venus Eagles either side of the large one in the middle, which Akihiko led Akari to.

"I'm going to have to help you," he told her. "There's no way you can fight it alone-"

"I fought that huge Shadow before, senpai! Stay back and let me-"

It was too late; Akihiko was already aiming the Evoker at his head. His Persona emerged and struck the Venus Eagle with lightning, sending it to the ground with a loud flump. "Junpei! Yukari! Step back!"

Yukari saw Akari running towards the Venus Eagle lying on the floor, naginata in hand so she got into a good position and aimed her bow and arrow. "Akari, wait!"

She stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder to see Yukari ready to shoot. Akari stepped aside, letting Yukari take aim before heading back towards the enemy to thrash it with her naginata. After just a couple of hits, the Venus Eagle dissolved into a puff of red smoke and she, Yukari and Junpei rushed over to the other electrocuted Venus Eagle and attacked it with their weapons. After defeating the final one, Mitsuru warned them to expect stronger enemies from now on. It was half an hour until the Dark Hour was due to end, but Mitsuru advised them to return to the entrance and head home since they'd just fought a strong enemy. Much to her displeasure (again), Akihiko led them to the next floor.

Because of their previous experience on the past few floors, they were able to advance much quicker through the next few. On floor seven, Mitsuru informed them that she detected another strong enemy similar to the Venus Eagles and it was blocking a path somewhere higher up. She said it was relatively far away but that was no excuse to let their guard down. After battling their way through floors eight and nine, they were told that the enemy blocking their path was on floor ten. Mitsuru also detected another permanent teleporter close by and told them to make haste since she sensed Death as the Dark Hour was drawing to a close. The three of them made it back just in time to exit Tartarus as the clock was counting the last thirty seconds of the Dark Hour and hurried back to the dorm with Mitsuru.

On the way to school the next morning as Akari, Junpei and Yukari were walking to the lockers, they overheard a few students gossiping. It seemed they were beginning to notice more weird people about lately and one disgusted and depressed student said even their neighbour has it now. This led to the student's friend suggesting getting some exercise by joining a sports club since they start recruiting new members today.

"Oh, that's right. D'you think you'll join one, Akari?" Yukari asked, overhearing the gossiping students. "The archery club might let you in without trial if I ask nicely."

"Maybe," Akari replied, clearly listening in on their conversation too. "I was thinking I might join the tennis club though."

"Tennis was never my forte. I've never been good at sports that involve running around…hence why I'm in the archery club. Haha, that makes me sound lazy, doesn't it?"

"I disagree. Just because physical education is compulsory doesn't mean to say that everyone has to be good at some kind of sporting activity."

Yukari smiled. "You really know how to make someone feel better, huh?"

"Hey, I'm not good with sports either. Don't I get sympathy, too?" Junpei butted in with a grin.

"No, because you failed due to staring at all the girls in their gym clothes. That's not a reason to deserve sympathy."

Junpei chuckled and together the three of them walked to their tutor classroom, each smirking for their own reasons.

Friday's final lesson came to an end and for the first time, Akari was relieved. She was looking forwards to the weekend and felt excited about having the opportunity to explore the area properly.

After parting ways with Junpei and Yukari, Akari made her way to the sport halls. It seemed as though rumour had spread fast about her being the transfer student from England, since many students stared as she passed them on the way to the sport halls.

"…I wish they'd make our school uniforms more casual, ours are so boring- hey, isn't that the transfer student from England-?"

"Shush, she'll hear you!"

Akari did in fact hear them, but chose to ignore it and act as though they'd said nothing as she walked past and outside to where the persimmon tree was. A young girl was standing next to it with her friend and Akari heard them discussing whether or not it commemorated something. When she got to the door that led outside to the field, she started to hesitate about joining the tennis club, but then she remembered how Akihiko had been helping her prepare and planned to keep giving her lessons on keeping fit-

"Hey, are you looking for the tennis club?" an unfamiliar girl's voice asked from behind her, interrupting her thoughts.

"Um…yes, actually-"

"Great! It's just out here. You're the transfer student from England, right?"

She nodded. "I'm Akari."

"I'm Rio. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

"Have you observed any other sport clubs yet?"

"No…tennis is the only one I'm really interested in-"

"Awesome! I don't particularly care much for volleyball or archery…those are the only others that allow observers today. D'you want to observe us today?"

"All right. There's not really much point in me observing volleyball or archery."

"Then, follow me."

She obediently walked out to the field with Rio towards a small group of girls who were chatting avidly. Rio cleared her throat loudly and they stopped talking immediately, looking at her and Akari.

"Guys, this is Akari. She's the-"

"Transfer student," a girl with buns said, finishing Rio's sentence with her.

"Right. Today she's going to be observing us."

"Is she the only one?" a girl with glasses asked, peering behind Rio.

"Unless you can see ghosts, I'd say yes," a girl with bunches replied.

Before the girl with glasses could respond, everyone turned to look where Rio was looking; an older woman was approaching them. They all greeted her in Japanese, so Akari couldn't understand but soon enough she introduced herself as Miss Kanou. After she left, the other members mimicked her for being too old to try and act cute but Rio quickly interrupted their conversation and told them to start warming up. Since Rio had warmed up beforehand, she chatted to Akari whilst the other girls did various stretches which she recognised from her training with Akihiko. Akari discovered most of the tennis club members were in the same year as her, including Rio and was given information about what days they practice. Once the other members had finished warming up, Rio jogged over to them, leaving Akari to find a good spot to observe from. She chose the patch of grass under the tree where she'd had lunch with Akihiko once before and tried not to get too caught up in memories, making sure to pay attention to the tennis club practice instead.

At the end of the session, the other members started to pack up their rackets and balls. A few of them made their way over to Akari and began bombarding her with questions.

"So, do you like what you see?" the girl with buns asked eagerly.

It took Akari a second to realise what she was being asked. "Um, yes-"

"Great! Do you want to join?" Rio chimed in.

"We think you'll fit in perfectly," the girl with glasses said kindly, adjusting her spectacles.

For the first time in a while, Akari felt like she belonged somewhere. So without hesitation, Akari agreed to join. They left the field together, splitting when the other girls headed to the changing room. Before heading back to the dorm, Akari stepped back to listen in on the volleyball club, since she thought she'd might as well see what it was like but the shouting and arguing coming from the gym made her glad she'd decided on joining the tennis club instead.

As Akari entered the dorm, she noticed the television was on and the reporter seemed to be talking about poisonous spurs behind the male platypus' feet. Yukari was the one watching the screen; Akihiko was sat nearby, but wasn't paying attention to the television at all. Instead, he was paying full attention to something on his phone. Akari sat down next to him and listened to the reporter talk about the platypus' native country, Australia.

"So, did you join a sport club?" Yukari asked as the reporter finished talking about platypus' laying eggs.

Akari nodded with a 'un' noise, making Akihiko look up from his phone in interest. "I joined the tennis club."

"I'm not surprised. I mean, you do seem pretty talented."

"I hope you have fun," Akihiko said before Akari could disagree with Yukari. "It's tough to attend every session, but you'll get a lot out of it if you do. Plus it'll help with going to Tartarus."

"T-That's true…"

"I'm so jealous. I'm so bored after school because I can't go to the boxing club."

"Speaking of Tartarus," Yukari intervened. "I'm up for training again tonight if you are. I want to do as much as I can to help the Lost and could do with the exercise since I didn't have archery club today."

"Tartarus is dangerous," Mitsuru reminded her, making everyone realise she was there.

"I'm aware of that," Yukari replied instantly, not looking at her.

"I'm only saying that you shouldn't take training lightly."

"I don't mind going to Tartarus again tonight," Akari told them, trying to change the subject back to the original topic.

"Cool," Yukari said with a smile. "How about you, Akihiko-senpai?"

"That's fine by me," he answered.

Mitsuru glared at him. Yukari saw this and smirked to herself, quickly turning to face the television to hide it. Akari swallowed nervously and turned back to the television, hoping the atmosphere would all cloud over by the time they got to Tartarus.

As they were wandering the hazy green corridors of Tartarus, Akari learnt from Mitsuru that Shuji used to be a researcher for Kirijo Electronics, which is the main reason he became chairman of the board and what made their dorm a convenient location. He was taught how to enter the Dark Hour for research purposes, but cannot summon a Persona.

"Speaking of which, you have to be pretty nutty to aim a gun at your head and pull the trigger," Junpei noted.

Yukari refrained from saying anything in response and kept her words to herself as they made their way to the next floor, where they soon came across three large, pale-pink hands. The stubs of their wrists were adorned with masks, making them look even creepier, as though they had faces…

With a lot of help from Unicorn, Akari, Yukari and Junpei managed to defeat the Dancing Hands. Akihiko looked quite proud that he didn't have to intervene and led the way to the next floor. Since they were familiar with the types of Shadows they encountered, they were able to make it to higher floors a lot quicker. On floor twelve, Mitsuru detected a strong enemy again a couple of floors above them and suggested splitting up if they felt confident enough. Akihiko took the next left turn with Junpei, leaving Akari and Yukari to go right.

"Shouldn't I have gone with Akari?" Junpei asked Akihiko as they walked briskly down the corridor. "I mean…Akari and Yukari's Personae both have healing skills."

"I'm not sure if their Personae have learnt any healing skills yet," Akihiko replied, spotting a black lump crawling around straight ahead. "Besides, Akari and I are the strongest, so it makes sense to split up that way."

"Haha, I'll catch up soon enough," Junpei laughed. "I'm a man. I've got to live up to those expectations!"

Together, they lunged at the Shadow and began the fight. Akihiko only used his Persona, since his rib was still healing, even though Mitsuru attempted to call him back many times.

A little while later, Junpei came across a temporary teleporter. He told Akari and Yukari via the communication system Mitsuru set up through her Persona, but Akari told them to keep going until they found the next strong enemy. On the way, Junpei found seven hundred and seventy-nine yen lying around, which he immediately claimed as his own and had already theoretically spent by saying he was going to treat himself to something tasty from a corner shop on the way back to the dorm.

On the fourteenth floor, Mitsuru discovered that the strong Shadow was a relatively powerful Rampage Drive; although it was alone, that didn't necessarily make it weak. She told them it was stronger than the Venus Eagles and Dancing Hands, making sure they didn't take it lightly.

"I believe another permanent teleporter is on that floor," Mitsuru told them, just after they defeated the Rampage Drive. "You should come back to the entrance and head back to the dorm; you've just fought a strong enemy."

Akari thought to herself for a moment. She had obtained a couple more Personae throughout the past few floors and wondered if she could fuse them together in the Velvet Room; however, she remembered that every time she goes there, everyone thinks she turns into one of the Lost…so not wanting to worry them, she decided to visit one day after school instead.

"We'll carry on," Akari said boldly. "If you say the barrier is very close to us now, we might as well find it."

Mitsuru didn't know what to say back. She'd been expecting Akihiko to refuse her suggestion, not Akari and since she wasn't annoyed with her, she didn't argue. "Very well. Just remember, you have twenty minutes before we need to be out of here."

Just as they came to the top of another staircase, Akari saw something lying on the ground. Akihiko and Junpei didn't notice it though since they were staring disappointedly at the blocked-off staircase preventing them from moving on.

"Hey, look at this…" Akari murmured, bending down and holding what looked like a handwritten note.

'_The electricity's hooked up, but why do they need so much? There's only a school on this island…_'

"Are they talking about Port Island?" Yukari wondered.

"It would make sense," Akari said.

Since the two boys still hadn't noticed the note Akari had found and seemed to be having a conversation about what was beyond the barrier, she and Yukari decided to leave them to it and head back to the entrance. They showed the note to Mitsuru, who looked a little worried as she read it.

"What's wrong? You think it means something?" Yukari asked. "It's got to be our school-"

"There you are!" a panicked voice came from behind them. "We thought a Shadow had got you when we saw you'd gone-"

"Calm down, Akihiko-senpai," Yukari ushered, waving the note in her hand. "If you two weren't so obsessed with what's behind that barrier then you would've noticed this note that Akari found lying on the ground up there."

"Note?" Akihiko and Junpei said curiously at the same time as Yukari gave the note to them.

The discussion carried on all the way to Port Island Station. By the time the train got back to Iwatodai Station, the conversation had died and everyone looked too exhausted to speak. Yukari compared their training in Tartarus to hiking Mount Fuji. Akari agreed, but Akihiko and Junpei contemplated the fact that it was because Akari and Yukari are girls. When they got inside, everyone just about continued to manage coherent sentences as they walked up the staircase together. As they dispersed into their own rooms, they bid each other goodnight and retired to bed.

A sudden rapping on wood woke Akari up with a start. Everything was blurry as she looked around sleepily for the culprit of the noise. It got a little louder and became more of a desperate attempt to get someone's attention, making Akari realise that it was someone knocking on her door.

"Akari, are you awake? We have to leave soon," Junpei's voice called from outside in the corridor.

"L-Leave…?" Akari wondered quietly with a frown, pushing the covers away.

"We don't want to be late for school-"

"She probably forgot that we have to go to school today," she heard Yukari's voice interrupt him. "They don't go to school on Saturdays in England. Plus, she's probably exhausted from yesterday."

Akari smiled at Yukari's ability to read her completely. "I'm coming…you can wait for me downstairs if you want to!"

"All right," Yukari and Junpei called back together.

As usual, Akari overheard rumours on her way to school. She was surprised how often she heard them and that most times they were about something completely different. Today she heard about the grand re-opening of a bookshop and decided she'd wander to the Strip Mall after school to take a look.

"You know…it sucks to be new," Junpei muttered as they walked along the path to the school gates. "You have to worry about where you'll sit and don't want to end up in the front row. Trust me, I found out the hard way. Luckily you have us to sit with."

"And I'm really thankful," Akari admitted with a smile, coming to a stop at the gates. "I'm really glad I met you both."

"Why are we stopping?" Yukari wondered, looking puzzled.

"Oh, I was going to take a look at the bookshop that just opened today, I heard about it this morning. Do you want to come?"

"Unfortunately I have better things to do with my time," Junpei said, faking a yawn. "Like sleep."

Akari felt a little hurt. "O-Okay-"

"Don't take it personally. Junpei's just not the kind of guy who reads books. I'd come with you instead, but I said I'd go shopping with Hana to help her find a present for her friend's birthday."

"Oh, that's okay," Akari said disappointedly. "I don't mind going on my own."

"Good, I'll see you later then," Junpei grinned and hurried off down the street.

"I'm sorry I can't come," Yukari apologised. "I'll see you tonight."

"See you later…" Akari called after her quietly. She soon had a thought that made her cheer up though and so she happily started walking towards Port Island Station.

After arriving at the station, Akari went straight for a while and crossed the zebra crossing. As she entered the Strip Mall, she passed a sad-looking boy who was talking to his friend about how badly he wanted a cat, but his mother hates animals. She felt sorry for him, but was distracted as soon as she saw a shop called 'Bookworms'; Akari pushed the door open and went inside.

"Oh, hello dear! Welcome to Bookworms. We have fresh mackerel today-" an elderly man started.

"Sorry, dear but as you can see, we don't sell fish here," an elderly lady interrupted him gently. "The mackerel in the fridge is for our dinner tonight."

Before Akari could even say anything, the elderly man spoke again. "You're the transfer student from Gekkoukan, aren't you, dear? Have you seen that persimmon tree in a courtyard near the sport halls?"

Akari simply nodded in surprise at how far the rumours had travelled and looked a little confused. "Yes, it looks fairly young."

"I hear it has splendid leaves these days! I've been meaning to visit it for a while, but I'm not sure if my stumpy legs will take me that far…'stumpy'…do you get it, dear?"

"Very clever, dear," the lady smiled.

"I just realised I haven't introduced myself. I'm Bunkichi and this is my wife, Mitsuko."

"I-I'm Akari. It's nice to meet you," Akari introduced timidly.

"Well then, we'll call you Akari-chan from now on; we know you're going to visit us again, right?"

"Of course. I really like reading, so I was looking forwards to taking a look around…"

"We have books piled high up to the ceiling, so I'm sure you'll find something you like. Take all the time you need. …I'm so glad someone noticed that tree…"

"Many people have seen it," Akari assured him. "I saw a couple of girls who wondered if it commemorates something-"

"They don't know what it commemorates…?" Bunkichi said with sadness in his voice.

Akari heard him trail off, muttering about something incoherent as he walked through the back door so she gazed around the little shop, taking in the detail of the characters printed on the spines of the books. Her eyes landed on one book in particular, the only one in English…'Pride and Prejudice'. She stared, her mind beginning to wander…

"Master Akari Rose…" Theodore's voice echoed in her mind. "This is the first step in your new found friendships with the Hierophant arcana. As you become closer to them, the power of the Hierophant arcana will grow inside of you, enabling the ability to hold stronger Personae of that arcana…well then, good luck, Akari-sama…"

"That again…?" Akari wondered quietly as she came back to Earth, noticing Mitsuko watching her interestedly. "That might start to get on my nerves…"

Mitsuko looked a little fearful of Akari talking to herself. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"I wasn't, but…now that you mention it, do you have any books on Hiragana and Katakana?" she asked.

Mitsuko led Akari to a small languages section that consisted of merely three or four books, which she decided to browse before making her way to work. Before she left, Mitsuko told her to come back to Bookworms if she gets bored, because an avid reader can cure their boredom by visiting a bookshop.

When she entered the lounge back at the dorm, Akihiko was the only one in the room. He looked up from the television and gave her a smile before turning back to the screen. "Hey. How was work today?"

"Oh, it was really busy," she told him, taking a seat next to him.

"Did you get any weird customers?"

"N-No…"

"All right, good."

Akari felt a little awkward and listened to the news reporter's Japanese accent as they talked about the most popular holiday destination being Hawaii. "I would love to go there…"

"Mmm, it would be nice. Then again, I'd prefer to visit somewhere like England or Italy."

"You want to go to England?" she wondered, feeling a little surprised.

Akihiko looked at her. "Yeah, why? Is that strange?"

"N-No, I just…don't see why people would want to go to England."

"I could say the same about Japan."

"But Japan is amazing-"

"Not to a local."

Akari didn't know what to say back; it was also true for her since she was English. "A-Akihiko…can I…ask a favour of you?"

"A favour? What is it?"

"Well, I was hoping that maybe you could…um…teach me a little Japanese."

Akihiko smiled admirably and agreed, so they spent the rest of the evening going over Hiragana. Akihiko showed her how to draw each character, after which she had a go at drawing them herself.

"No, hold on-" Akihiko said, stopping her from drawing the character for 'a'. "Like this."

Akari paid full attention to the way he slowly drew 'a'. "The curve overlaps the straight line, like that-"

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling her cheeks tint a little.

Akihiko chuckled. "Don't be. Here-"

He took her hand, which was holding the pencil and scooted closer to her, once again unaware how inappropriately intimate their closeness was to Akari. She blushed furiously and almost looked at him in surprise, but she knew that if she did, her nose would brush against his cheek…

Sunday arrived a lot quicker than Akari wanted it to. She blinked lazily at the sun peeking through the gap in the curtains. Without thinking too much on it, she got out of bed and made her way to Akihiko's bedroom; she wanted to ask him if he was busy today and realised that if she thought about it any longer, her shyness would cave in and prevent her from doing so.

"Is that you, Mitsuru?" Akihiko's sleepy voice came from inside. "I'm still in bed…can you come back later?"

Akari knocked again; she wanted to surprise him. However, to her own surprise he got annoyed and yelled at her to speak to him another time. She left him to it and hurried back to her room as her heart drooped, but she told herself not to take it personally; he and Mitsuru were going through a phase of a mutual dislike for each other, so as she meandered down to the kitchenette she let her mind get distracted by Theodore, which resurfaced her eagerness to see him again.

She turned on the television to watch it with her breakfast (she'd reluctantly decided to use their shared rice cooker) and it was already on the news channel that reported in English, with the news correspondent talking about the amount of young people with only part-time jobs. The last mouthful of her breakfast was consumed in awe at the discovery of the lengthy-titled and interestingly-named anime 'Phoenix Ranger Featherman R'. However, she never gave herself enough time to watch episode ten: 'Instant Ramen Smorgasbord: Feather Swan!' because she wanted to hopefully avoid the Strip Mall being busy. Since nobody else was about even after cleaning up her bowl, Akari headed out. As she boarded the train, she found her plan was successful because she was the only person in the carriage.

Her plan was to go to the Strip Mall, but before she realised it she was at Port Island Station. Whether it was out of habit or something she was unaware of, her feet had taken her to Paulownia Mall instead. As she entered, she looked around in confusion; this certainly wasn't the Strip Mall.

"What am I doing here…?" she wondered aloud in the empty mall.

Two voices startled her as footsteps came from behind her, talking loudly. They were discussing getting shampoo on Saturday because it was the new regular sale day for Aohige Pharmacy. Akari watched them disappear into Be Blue V as a blue glow caught the corner of her eye, this time automatically drawing her over to it.

"Is this…a door to the Velvet Room…?" she queried, reaching a hesitant hand out to the handle. "Are you in there, Theo…?"

"Welcome to the Velvet Room, Akari-sama," Theodore greeted with his charming smile. "Please, allow me to take your shoes."

"O-Oh, h-hello, Theodore-senpai."

"…Senpai?"

She kept her stare at her feet, knowing she already got this treatment from Akihiko. "W-Well, you're my senpai…right?"

"I suppose…" he muttered thoughtfully.

"You really remind me of him," she blurted out quietly.

"…" Theodore didn't know what to say.

"S-Sorry…"

"There's no need to apologise. Now, what can I do for you, Akari-sama?"

"…I-I…two…reasons…"

"I'm sorry?"

Akari's cheeks flushed. "I meant…there are two reasons I came here…"

"Then, please tell me what they are so I can be of service."

"I…would like to fuse Personae again…"

"Ah, then please, take a seat." Theodore sat in Igor's armchair as Akari took a seat opposite him. Together they watched three cards appear on the table in front of them. "Unicorn, Pixie and Omoikane…the latter two will create Nekomata of the Magician arcana…strong against fire and holds no weaknesses. As such, it will have the ability to use fire attacks. Your bond with the Magician arcana has enabled Nekomata to become even stronger, thus its physical attacks will be even more effective."

Déjà vu washed over her as she felt overwhelmed at his description. "Nekomata…?"

"She is an incarnation of a long-lived cat from Japanese mythology and has the power of human speech. If needed, she can also control the dead."

"…The dead?" Akari repeated uneasily as Igor appeared from the shadows, making her gasp and Theodore stood up from his seat in a flash.

"Good morning, Akari," he greeted with his familiar grin. "I see you have been taking advantages of the services we have to offer for your explorations in Tartarus. I always ponder how it came to be, or why it exists…unfortunately you are incapable of answering these questions for now."

Theodore snapped his fingers; two cards flew up into the air and merged into one, bringing Nekomata into the room. The cat-like human was on all fours, swishing its tail almost menacingly. "I have no choice but to protect you…"

"Now, now, Nekomata…Akari-sama is a lovely guest. She is such a pure maiden that she was able to tame Unicorn, so I believe you will get on perfectly," Theodore told the creature, making Akari's cheeks turn pink.

"I-It's nice to meet you, Nekomata…" Akari said timidly, feeling wary of her.

Nekomata merely bowed and disappeared in a puff of sparkles. Akari took a nervous glance at Igor and Theodore respectively before turning her gaze to the door she'd gone through before…

"What was your other reason for coming here, Akari-sama?" Theodore asked with a smile, causing Igor to look at him and then Akari in curiosity.

"I…just wanted to talk to you," she said to Theodore, unable to look at him.

"Me?" he clarified, to which Akari nodded. "Igor, may I?"

"Be my guest," Igor said nonchalantly.

Theodore smiled and beckoned Akari over to the door they went through before. "After you, Akari-sama-"

"However," Igor started again, not looking up from the table as Theodore grabbed the handle. "Do not blame me for the consequences."

"Consequences…?" Theodore repeated with a frown.

"I cannot say what they may be. You must make your own decisions. I can only inform you of the possibility that things don't always work out as we want them to."

"I realise that, Master-"

"Then carry on as you wish. I will see you later," Igor said as he stood up and disappeared into the shadows.

When Akari was sure that he could no longer hear them, she decided to ask Theodore what Igor was talking about. He simply said to her that he wasn't sure and looked lost in thought as he stared into the distance.

"Anyway," Theodore started after clearing his throat. "We mustn't dwell on this. I am here to please you, so let us get on with what you really came here for."

She followed him into the room with her cheeks tinting the colour of cherry blossoms at his words. It looked exactly like it did before. She was unsure where to sit though since there was only one seat, which Theodore had beaten her to and was already sitting in, so Akari sat on the side of the bed close to it instead. Her legs dangled, unable to reach the floor; when Theodore saw this, he chuckled.

"Would you feel more comfortable if your feet were able to touch the ground?" he asked politely.

"N-No, thank you…" she declined quietly, feeling extremely short now.

"Very well. So, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Akari stayed silent. She felt as though she was sat in a room with a counsellor, not a strange man beyond her imagination who lived in a room full of doors with many things to discover…and she didn't like that feeling at all. It wasn't right.

"Did you manage to finish your homework? As I recall, you asked me to help you with it."

"Oh, yes…I finished it. My friend then read through it for me since he studied it last year."

"'He'…?" Theodore questioned with a frown. "As far as I was aware, boys and girls are never just friends. Are you referring to the term 'boyfriend', but using 'friend' as an abbreviation?"

"W-What…?" Akari stuttered in shock. "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Forgive me, Akari-sama," he said quietly with tinted cheeks. "It was something my sister told me. I must stop being so gullible to her stories…"

"What stories?"

"Please forget I mentioned it. I do not wish to bore our valued guest."

"I doubt that would happen," she told him. After all, she just wanted to talk to him about anything…just to hear his soft voice…he intrigued her and she just couldn't get enough…she felt as though she'd never be satisfied with the time she got to spend with him…forever would never be long enough…

Forever…? Akari shook her thoughts away. What was she thinking?

Theodore smiled fondly. "You're so kind."

She looked up to meet his eyes and for the first time started to see the differences between him and Akihiko. "You didn't remind me of my friend for once…"

"Oh, really? How interesting. Why don't you tell me of your friend? I'm afraid I cannot hold my curiosity any longer."

"W-Well…" she started. Without realising it, she was soon rambling on about Akihiko, but not once did she mention his name…"…And he's really caring, just like you. He worries about me a lot too, but we don't even know each other that well-"

"That goes for us, too," he interrupted.

"W-What do you mean?"

"I worry about you, Akari-sama and we barely know each other. However, I…would like that to change…"

Akari's cheeks went a little pink. "…M-Me too."

"That is why training in Tartarus is of most importance. The stronger you and your Personae become, the less I will have to worry about you being incapable of defending yourself efficiently."

Her heart drooped. So he wasn't flirting with her, he was just worried. Of course…how could that possibly have been the case?

"I-I'm sorry-" was all she could manage to say.

"Akari-sama, please, what are you apologising for?"

"Being weak."

Theodore sighed. "That will change one day. I can sense it…the little power held inside your soul has already made great improvements from the first day we met. If your friendship bonds have helped your power change this much in such a short amount of time…what the future holds may possibly be unimaginable."

"That reminds me…" she remembered quietly. "These 'friendship bonds'…how do they work? Sometimes when I'm with people, I…um…"

"Hear my voice?"

She froze completely; not that she was really moving much anyway, but she stopped swinging her legs nervously and let her eyes focus on Theodore's shoes. "Y-Yes…in my…head…"

He felt his cheeks warming a little. "Forgive me for that, Akari-sama. Igor told me I am to inform you when you become closer to your acquaintances and friends, so you know when you are able to create stronger Personae. I assumed telepathy was the most convenient way of getting the information across to you, since we aren't always together."

His last few words echoed in her head. "Heh…when I hear your voice in my head…i-it makes it feel like you're right there with me."

Theodore smiled fondly. "I'm glad you feel that way. That was the effect I was going for."

Akari felt her cheeks turn pinker and noticed the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Something in the back of her mind told her she should be feeling vigilant towards Theodore…not lustful.

"However, if it bothers you, I can use another method of communication-"

"N-No," she said quickly. "I-I mean…how else could you let me know? There aren't any other ways-"

"I could contact you via your mobile communication device."

"I suppose…"

"A problem would arise if you were unable to answer my call, however. So perhaps I should continue to use telepathy-"

Akari giggled, making him cut off mid-sentence. "You could always leave a voicemail."

"Voice…mail? I see…" he muttered, trailing of thoughtfully.

She started to wonder how different Theodore really was. It was obvious there was something unusual, right from the start but she was unable to place a finger on it, even now…whatever the case, she wasn't very good at explaining things so she decided not to take that suggestion any further. "How about a text, then?"

Theodore's face looked blankly. "A text…? How does that work?"

"Well…" she started, but couldn't seem to find the right words to explain that, either and hold back a giggle at the same time. "I think your idea was better. Let's just continue with telepathy."


	12. Quick note!

I just wanted to say a huuuuge thank you for those still reading and adding my story/chapters to your favourites an alerts! It means so much to me~ 3 I haven't forgotten about this story! I've actually just been taking a break...a very long one! I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I was also thinking of moving this to deviantart, because I'm not that keen on the way fanfiction works...so if any of you use deviantart, you can find me on there! My username is Akari-Rose.

Thank you all so much~


End file.
